100 years ago, 1915
And now the city of Auburn is in the war game and supplying material for the great European struggle. This time it is not war weapons to destroy life but an ingenious device to save human lives on ships equipped with the life floats now being made by the Otto E. Hitt Company in Auburn. It is a copper tube some 12 inches thru made in circular form and covered with cork. It is eight feet in diameter when resting upon the water and being air tight and filled with air it cannot sink. The cork covering helps to keep it from sinking. Underneath this copper float is a netting of ropes and a lattice platform made of wood, and numerous ropes on the end of each one is a small buoy that floats upon the water. With a sufficient number of them in the water the entire crew can be saved in a few minutes.

50 years ago, 1965
The newly redecorated second floor at the B. Peck Co. store on Main Street, Lewiston, will be opened to the public this week. Free flowers will be given to the first 100 ladies to visit the store’s new fashion center for women, girls and toddlers, and soft drinks will be available. Youngsters visiting the store with their parents will be able to visit briefly with the Easter Bunny, who is to arrive at the store Friday, March 26, and remain with quarters in the children’s section of the second floor until he hops about the Twin Cities on Easter morning delivering numerous goodies to the children of the area.

25 years ago, 1990
A restaurant on Main Street, Auburn, offering an eclectic selection of ethnic and traditional foods has closed its doors after two years in business. Poppies, which opened in late 1987, closed officially on Monday, said manager Chrysanthe Soukas, leaving about 20 employees out of work. “We needed about another year to really turn over a profit, and looking at the economy, this seemed the smartest move to make,” she said.

The material in Looking Back is reproduced exactly as it originally appeared, although misspellings and errors made at that time may be edited.