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Morton J. Savada Papers

An inventory of his papers at Syracuse University


Finding aid created by: MRC
Date: 1 Jul 2009

Biographical History

Morton J. Savada (1923-2008) was an American record collector and dealer in New York City. He operated his business, Records Revisited, in midtown Manhattan for more than thirty years,

Savada was born in Manhattan and graduated from Cornell University with a degree in electrical engineering. He worked for the family business -- Savada Brothers Inc., a clothing company -- for twenty years before opening Records Revisited. The store specialized in 78rpm records from artists such as King Oliver, Ma Rainey, Artie Shaw and Benny Goodman, and carried genres ranging from big band and jazz to Latin, country, and spoken word. Although the store was a business, Savada also regarded the 250,000 albums on its shelves as a collection or archive; rather than sell the last copy of a recording he would make a copy on tape, and often loaned copies to CD producers or for use in movie sound tracks. For many years the store was a meeting place for Record Research, a group of about a dozen collectors and researchers.

Scope and Contents of the Collection

The Morton J. Savada Papers consists almost exclusively of material relating to Savada's record store, Records Revisited.

Correspondence-subject files contains correspondence from long-time customers, other collectors, and a few friends and family members. Financial files contain several years' worth of receipts, and sales tax exemption and resale certificates. The bulk of Lists and inventories is made up of Savada's inventory cards, including an extensive file of songs by title. Also included are photocopies of some discographies by label, a complete listing of Army V-Discs, morale boosters put out during World War II, and assorted other lists. Memorabilia contains Savada's desk calendars for 2003-2006, the business certificate for Records Revisited, and business cards for same as well as for Savada Brothers Inc. Printed material contains some very early items, such as the label from a Columbia Graphophone, as well as much later items such as newsletters and a concert program.

Arrangement of the Collection

Material is arranged alphabetically.

Restrictions

Access Restrictions:

The majority of our archival and manuscript collections are housed offsite and require advanced notice for retrieval. Researchers are encouraged to contact us in advance concerning the collection material they wish to access for their research.

Use Restrictions:

Written permission must be obtained from SCRC and all relevant rights holders before publishing quotations, excerpts or images from any materials in this collection.

Related Material

The complete inventory of 78rpm phonographs was donated to the Belfer Audio Archives at Syracuse University as the Morton J. Savada 78 RPM Collection. Please contact the repository listed above for more information.

Subject Headings

Persons

Connor, D. Russell (Donald Russell)
Hicks, Warren W.
Savada, Morton J.

Corporate Bodies

Records Revisited.

Associated Titles

BG on the record: a bio-discography of Benny Goodman, D. Russell Connor and Warren W. Hicks.

Subjects

Record labels.
Sound recordings -- Collectors and collecting.
Sound recordings -- History.

Genres and Forms

Appointment books.
Business cards.
Clippings (information artifacts)
Correspondence.
Discographies.
Inventories.
Obituaries.
Photographs.
Receipts (financial records)

Occupations

Collectors.
Merchants.

Administrative Information

Preferred Citation

Preferred citation for this material is as follows:

Morton J. Savada Papers,
Special Collections Research Center,
Syracuse University Libraries

Acquisition Information

Gift of Morton Savada, 2008.

Table of Contents

Correspondence-subject files

Financial files

Lists and inventories

Memorabilia

Printed material

Inventory