time was

Formerly, in the past, as in Time was, the city streets were perfectly safe at night. [Mid-1500s]

The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.

Related Words for time was

early, old, preceding, earlier, late, prior, previous, recent, already, formerly, previously, before, then, heretofore, once, hitherto, latter, ancient, bygone, over

Examples from the Web for time was

Historical Examples of time was

The child's foot treading lightly over the graves is the type of the time-is triumphing over the time-was.
The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 13, No. 80, June, 1864
Various