A Lost Treasure from Boston's Radio Past

The Frank Cyrano Byfar Hour is an odd relic of Boston’s radio history, a comedy/variety show broadcast from a department store in Downtown Crossing. Very few artifacts of the show remain today: the Putnam-Moore Department Store and the show’s sponsor are both long gone, the actors and actresses involved faded into obscurity after the show’s run, and no actual recordings of the program (if any were made at all) have never surfaced. What little knowledge we have indicates that the program ran from 1934 to 1949 with a break during the war years, and that despite the best efforts of host Frank Cyrano, the show never rose above being a mere local curiosity.

The failure to gain national prominence seems to have been caused by two main factors: one, the program was too similar to both Jack Benny and Fred Allen’s programs; and two, the material was decidedly too local, aimed at Bostonians first and New Englanders second. Simply put, it wouldn’t play well in the sticks, or Peoria. Still, the show did attract a small yet loyal following, who enjoyed the comedy stylings of Frank and his on-stage family, the energetic Minutemen band led by Lex Concord, and the gang of fictitious characters down at the Hub Chowderhouse. The show’s sponsor throughout its entire run (rare for a show in those days) was Byfar Coffee Syrup.

The Putnam-Moore Department Store was located near Washington and Essex Streets in Boston. The show was broadcast on the store’s own radio station, WPM, from the Rooftop Gardens auditorium (located on the eighth floor of the ten-story Putnam-Moore building). The show staff actually had their office space in the vaudeville theater next door. When the theater was demolished in the early 2000s, a cache of scripts was uncovered, providing the only substantial material we have of the show today. Thanks to the efforts of an “interested third party”, the PMRP recently came into possession of these scripts and, discovering among them a Halloween episode featuring Bela Lugosi—which aired the same night as the Martian Invasion of 1938—decided to use it for the comedy portion for this year’s show.