"We've had people come in here … for some social event and they haven't even
noticed," said Bill. "But [the collection] is everywhere."
Over the decades, the Gladstones have scoured antique dealers and shows throughout
the Northeast. They've also added to their collection on trips to the West Coast, Europe,
and the Far East. Tiny porcelain replicas of Japanese ballplayers line a bathroom shelf.
They won't buy anything unless they both agree, which Bill says is 90 percent of the
time. They seek out items that are rare, artistic, and quirky, but not gimmicky.
"When we started to go to antique shows and asked for baseball [items], people just
laughed at us," says Bill, who retired in 1991 as co-CEO of the giant accounting firm Ernst
& Young. "They'd say, 'We're in the antique business.' And we'd say, 'Baseball goes back to
1839."
Not being taken seriously worked to the couple's advantage. They'd recognize value
when "the seller didn't give a damn," Bill says. "He'd just tacked some minor price on it."
Buying fine art was a different story, though. After purchasing a lithograph Oldenburg had
done of the 100-foot "Batcolumn" he designed for Chicago, the Gladstones visited the
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