Maples Pty., Ltd.
Furniture Manufacturers and Retailers
258 Clarendon St, South Melbourne (head office)
Branches throughout the Melbourne metropolitan area, country Victoria, and NSW Riverina district.

Brand: Bluebird

Retailers of Bluebird brand household items (established 1950), including Record Players, Radiograms and Sewing Machines.

The Maples chain was established by Benjamin Nathan in 1887 at Clarendon St, South Melbourne .

By the early twentieth century Maples had expanded with large furniture retail outlets thoughout the major shopping strips in suburban Melbourne.

Benjamin Nathan was born in 1864 at Collingwood, Melbourne.

Nathan went on to make considerable wealth as co-founder of the Australia-wide Maples furniture and music store chain (1887) with Frederick Thomas, which by the time of his death had over fifteen stores in two states.

In December 1910 he purchased the mansion Rippon Lea – 192 Hotham Street, Elsternwick from the estate of Sir Thomas Bent.

Portrayed in Frank Hardy’s (1917-94) explosive ‘novel’ “Power Without Glory” (1950) as ‘Benjamin Levy’, Nathan was a close business partner of John Wren . In the book, Hardy would describe ‘Levy’ as “a wizened, bald-headed, miserable-looking old man in his second childhood” who as owner of the Ascot pony racecourse was in financial difficulty.

Nathan died on 25 July 1935 aged 71 with an estate valued for probate at £1,087,903 of which his daughter Louisa Jones inherited Rippon Lea later donated to the National Trust after her death in July 1972 in honour of Nathan’s wishes that the estate should be preserved for the public. [1]

[1] brightoncemetery.com/benjamin-nathan-1864-1935/ (edited)