Ben Ford Abrams and his brother Jack got their start in showbusiness in 1932 when they formed a tap dance and acrobatic act and toured the vaudeville circuit.
The following year they formed the Ford Theatrical Agency that became one of the most successful in the country and signed entertainers such as Fats Waller, Louis Armstrong, Ella Fitzgerald, Sammy Davis jnr and Buddy Hackett.
They went into the nightclub business in Boston in 1943, taking over an established nightclub on Warrenton Street called the Rio Casino – adding ‘new’ to the title to show it was under new management.
It sounds like it was a fun place. There were floor shows featuring the famous American burlesque entertainer Gypsy Rose Lee (1911-1970) and the ‘South American bombshell’ Diosa Costello.
The 1940s and 50s were the heyday of jazz and many of the big stars of the day performed there, and at the brothers’ other nightclub called the Tic Toc.
From 1946 until 1957, they also operated the concession and ran bands and charter parties for the old Wilson Line Excursion Steamers out of Rowes Wharf in Boston. They also promoted boxing matches.

*Courtesy Steve Rosenberg