Allowing free rein to my imagination, I have no difficulty creating a personal existence to Corrientes 348. I can close my eyes and see the environment in detail and the various happenings in the everyday life of the establishment. A little more imagination and I can even visualize ownership: Corrientes 348 is mine, furnished and managed to my taste with my humble self doing the "floor walking", standing next to the pianist of the day and even deciding perhaps what to play and what not to. Which brings to mind the piano. If I were indeed the owner of such a tango-club, what kind of piano would I want for my place?
Maple & Co. kept in stock and supply pianos by all the distinguished makers of the day, such as, for example, Bechstein, Blüthner, Brinsmead, Broadwood, Collard & Collard, Erard, Julius Feurich, Ibach, Steinway and others, and gave their customers the full advantage of the exceptional terms their very large trade in pianos enabled them to make with the different manufacturers.
Decisions, decisions, decisions ....!
An oblique cottage piano by Bechstein, blackwood or rosewood and marqueterie case, for 700,00 pesos. The same piano built in special case design, such as Chippendale, Adam, Sheraton, Louis XIV, XV, XVI for 785,00 pesos.
A cottage piano by Julius Feurich, overstrung, 7 octaves, trichord, with full iron frame and pin-plate combined, excellent check action, best ivory keys, in fine Chippendale mahogany or rosewood case for 430,00 pesos.
An artistic piano by John Brinsmead with iron vertical frame covering wrest plank, escapement, check action, full trichord, in Chippendale mahogany, American walnut, ebonized or oak for 545,00 pesos.
Maple & Co. had such a continually-changing assortment of rugs and mats always in stock that in their advertisements and brochures they never considered listing all the varieties. What they mostly did was list the different types, such as Sheepskin, Jeypore, Anglo-Indian, Mecca, Beam or Mottled, Cocoa, and Slip-Wool, and a table of sizes and prices such as this one below.
When it came to occasional or side tables, Maple & Co. had selections to please every taste in the book. From three-legged to four-legged to octagonal, you name it, they manufactured it.
The "Chantry" 12,00 pesos
The "Octagonal Oak" 33,00 pesos
The "Sir Humphrey" 14,00 pesos
In addition to these magnificently-traditional occasional and side tables, Maple & Co. also carried a vast selection of "Chinese" tables in curiously carved black wood with marble tops. Many examples of these interesting and quaint pieces of furniture were available for view at any of Maple & Co.'s three showrooms.
