100 years ago, 1915
Just 16 years ago the Great Department Store, occupying three acres of floor space, was opened to the public for the first time and then full skirts and puff sleeves attracted the style seekers. Wednesday, full skirts were again on the racks and new colors, new models and new materials have come into existence. The business was founded in 1880 by Bradford Peck under the name of the B. Peck Company and did business in the Sands building on Lisbon street. In 1899 it was incorporated as the Great Department Store, the new building erected and the best and most up to date purchasable given the public. In honor of its 16 years of business in the new store and in compliment to the loyal trade which Lewiston and Auburn people have enjoyed there, an anniversary sale opened Wednesday and will continue thru April.

50 years ago, 1965
Lake Auburn may be free of ice by the end of this week, in the opinion of Game Warden Donis R. Wheaton. Already Sabattus Pond is open and a lot of open water is showing in several other area lakes and ponds. Also open are Sabbathday Lake and Tacoma Lakes. Wheaton made a round of the lakes and ponds on Sunday and found a large number of fishermen, both young and old, wetting lines. He said the only really good catch reported so far, however, was a three pound salmon taken Sunday at Lake Auburn.

25 years ago, 1990
Two Auburn students have been selected as fourth-prize winners in an Earth Day contest sponsored by Sen. William S. Cohen. The essay, written by Sandra Pomerantz and Rebecca Coburn, sixth-grade students in the multi-grade class at Great Falls Intermediate School, was selected as one of the best in that age group by an independent panel of judges. More than 4,000 essays were entered, Cohen said. The students wrote about an imaginary walk in the woods where they came across old tires, trash and other unsightly items thrown haphazardly away. They concluded by giving a list of alternative solutions to things that are environmentally unsound.

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