A SMALL PIECE OF DOWNTOWN BETHESDA HISTORY GOES ON THE AUCTION BLOCK

The ghosts of Bethesda past are haunting eBay this weekend.   A "mint condition" matchbox from Bish Thompson's Seafood Restaurant is on auction, with a starting bid of $4.99.

Bidding ends in about 48 hours.

As a lifelong Bethesda resident, I did dine at Bish Thompson's a number of times in my early years.  Prior to the construction of Bethesda Row, and other new developments, BT's was one of the few major restaurants in downtown Bethesda.

It was located on property now part of the Rosedale Park Apartments.  I was not a big fan of Bish Thompson's myself.  O'Donnell's - a neighboring seafood restaurant - was a bit better, especially the fried shrimp.

My favorite restaurant in the "old days" of Bethesda (a.k.a. the 1980s), was Hot Shoppes, at the corner of Wisconsin Avenue and East West Highway.

Oh, well.

If you want to own a piece of downtown Bethesda history, it's possible.

But I wonder how a Bish Thompson's matchbox ended up in Pittsfield, New Hampshire.