There’s no better way to learn about our past than browsing through old copies of local newspapers. Sometimes I like the shotgun approach . . . pick a date and see what was going on around town. At other times, specific events dictate the target.

It was just a few weeks ago that I wrote about the jubilant celebrations in Lewiston-Auburn marking the end of World War I. Cheering residents filled the streets and bonfires blazed into the night.

Today, 68 years after Pearl Harbor, I went back to reports that stunned the world and shocked the Twin Cities. On that day, the front page of the Lewiston Daily Sun screamed “U.S. and Japan at war.” We had been plunged into a worldwide conflict once again.

Those first hours were filled with fear and anxiety, and the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor in the Pacific brought understandable apprehension about the possibility of an attack on the east coast. A Portland news item said “hostile forces” were an hour outside Boston.

In the next few days, local officials sought to calm fears.

Under the big, bold headlines of war news, The Lewiston Evening Journal said increased defense measures were being taken for local industry, and recruiting offices were doing a “rush business.” The Lewiston Daily Sun reported “Armed Guard at Gulf Island and Deer Rips Dams,” and civilian defense organizations were calling urgent meetings. At that time, W. Scott Libbey, president of the Libbey Mill, was head of the local civil defense effort.

Newspapers were also reporting on Japanese assaults on the Philippines. Soon-to-be-familiar names of locations in the Pacific were being mentioned for the first time . . . Luzon, Guam, Wake Island.

Germany’s offensive against Russia had been big news for weeks, but now the attention of Americans shifted to the other side of the world. It was the beginning of several war-torn years and no family in the L-A area was left untouched.

Despite the bleak news in December of 1941, Christmas was not far away. There was another headline on Dec. 11, 1941, that emphasized the optimism of local families. It stated, “Christmas tree business is booming.”

That’s some of what I found about L-A on a very significant day in history. I am just as interested in what happened here on much more ordinary days, so I also took a look at news of Dec. 8, 1890.

“December is making a record for cold,” The Lewiston Evening Journal reported. “Lake Auburn is frozen over from shore to shore.”

Local citizens were rushing to see an Arctic owl that had been caught in a trap set for mink at the head of Sabattus Pond.

Good news came from the president of the Lewiston and Auburn Street Railway. He told residents, “We haven’t forgotten that loop of the horse railroad to be run by electricity up Auburn Heights, around Western Promenade and back to the level again.” He added, “No trouble about hill-climbing by electricity and you are going to have it very soon.”

Other news items told of Christmas preparations. Hotel rooms were doing a good business with “Christmas drummers” (salesmen), and “a chorus of 100 is rehearsing for Christmas services at the Elm Street Universalist Church.”

Another page had an interesting account related to the famed Poland Spring House, which was in its prime near the end of the 19th century.

It said Raymond, the celebrated excursion manager (no first name was given), sent to Hiram Ricker, founder and owner of the grand Poland Spring House, for some table waiters for his hotel, The Raymond, which is located near Los Angeles, for the winter season.

“Mr. Ricker selected 20 of his girls and they were in great luck,” the story said. “Raymond will pay their expenses out and back and give them good wages while they are there.”

Dave Sargent is a freelance writer and a native of Auburn. He can be reached by e-mail at [email protected].