It’s the beginning of a new year … or is it the end of an old year? Are you the kind of person who likes to look back or look ahead? No, it’s not a trick question, because I believe each approach has equal merit.

For the next several days, television channels, newspapers and magazines will be running retrospectives on all kinds of subjects. In my research for this column, I have found that newspapers from many decades ago were not that different in their first-of-the-year features. Year after year, you could find many Lewiston-Auburn firms that proudly pointed out their decades of service to the communities.

I picked a date at random. In the first few weeks of 1927, readers of the Lewiston Evening Journal could find a collection of ads that highlighted local history, with some interesting information that helps us understand what the Twin Cities were like a hundred or more years ago.

One of those featured businesses was E.S. Paul Co. at 168-174 Lisbon St., Lewiston. Establishment of that dry goods and clothing store dated back to 1867.

The J.H. Chase Co. was at 191 Lisbon St., where it had originated in 1881 “when plank sidewalks were quite prevalent on Lisbon Street.” The firm was said to be “Steadily growing until today they rank among the best plumbers, heaters, metal workers and dealers in hardware, paints and varnishes.”

Coburn Tailor at 240 Main St., Lewiston, was credited with 30 years of business, and F.R. Conant Lumber Co. on Washington St., Auburn, proudly proclaimed 76 years of service beginning in 1851.

Boston Tea Store at 18 Lisbon St. is a well-known name that continued for a number of years beyond the 1927 advertisement. Two young men from Boston named Parlin and Merrill opened the grocery store in 1875. In 1927, it was under the management of S.S. Woodbury.

Among the quality products sold at Boston Tea Store were stuffed oranges, spiced fruits, whole pears put up in jars, and a specialty brand of French sardines. The business featured foods from S.S. Pierce Co. and Battle Creek Health Foods.

Founded in 1861, F.E. Tainter and Co.. a music store, claimed “37 years under the same name” beginning in 1890. It was at 42 Lisbon St.

Merrill and Webber Co., printers and bookbinders, was in its 35th year of doing business at 95-99 Main St., Auburn.

Fogg’s Leather Store at 123 Main St., Lewiston, began business in 1889, and the business may be remembered as it continued into the middle of the last century. Its slogan was, “To Please is More Important Than To Profit.”

Lewiston Trust Co., which had branches in Lewiston, Mechanic Falls, Lisbon Falls and Freeport, proclaimed 29 years of service. It noted that the bank opened with only two employees in 1898, and in 1927 it had 21 employees and assets in excess of $8 million.

The oldest of all the business noted in 1927 was the A.L. and E.F. Goss Co. In 1843, John Goss established a tinware business at 41 Main St., Lewiston. The founder continued in business alone until the close of the Civil War, when he sold it to A.L. Goss, who took his brother, E.F. Goss, into partnership in 1875. That arrangement went through 1891 when E.W. Goss, a son of A.L. Goss, became a stockholder, and Henry E. Goss, another son, joined the firm.

The company sold stoves and kitchenware, as well as installations of “modern oil-burning systems.”

There was one other ad on the commemorative page, but no dates were given. It was for Turner Centre Ice Cream, “Sold all over New England” and said to be “Always Found in Good Company.”

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