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Flanking the clock face are figures believed to be Bob Ferguson,
outfielder and manager of the Brooklyn Atlantics; and Bobby
Mathews, star pitcher for the New York Mutuals. At the clock's
peak are two boys, perched as if watching a game from a rooftop. If
you look closely, you'll see the figures of Henry Chadwick, the era's
premier sportswriter, and Alexander Cartwright, the man credited
with formalizing the rules of the game.
"This gives you an idea of us. The kind of things we collect.
They're different," says Bill.
★ ★ ★
It all started with a listing Millie spotted in The New York Times
one Sunday in 1971. With their two children in tow, the
Gladstones set off for a Long Island gallery showcasing news-
paper cartoonist Willard Mullin, creator of the big-bellied, hobo-
like character known as the "Dodger Bum." They schmoozed
with the artist and left with several original drawings and a
severe case of the collecting bug.
"Suddenly, the entire house was full of baseball art," says daugh-
ter Sue Gladstone, who was in high school at the time.
From bedrooms to bathrooms, the kitchen to the living room, the
collection now fills the couple's 4,000 square-foot condo in a New
York suburb. Counting such tiny objects as baseball-themed poker
chips and a ballplayer doorstop, it numbers more than 200 items.
"You'd think it would be overwhelming, but it isn't," says Wood.
research, she dates it to the 1870s, when woman used combs to
keep their upswept hair in place.
Among the more macabre pieces is a concrete gravestone. Less
than a foot high, it depicts a young lad leaning against a tree trunk.
Next to him is a bat, ball, hat, and his favorite book. The Gladstones
bought it from Sotheby's, which dated the marker from the 1890s.
Normally, the headstone sits on the mantel of the fireplace in
the Gladstones' living room. Also on the mantel is a bronze clock
fashioned by the brothers Nicholas and Karl Muller in 1876.
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north bridge magazine
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S P R I N G / S U M M E R 2 0 1 5
Box Office Sign by Theo I. Josephs, 1890
Baseball Batter Weathervane, 1930-1940
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