time was

Phrase

 * 1) It was once true (that)...; there was a time when...
 * , Jonathan Mitchell, editor, The Parable of the Ten Virgins Opened and Applied [sermons of Thomas Shepard], 1797 edition, volume 2, page 259 :
 * Time was, the feet of the messengers of peace were glorious, but now their message is mean; time was, thou wert exceeding tender of the least sin, and not a day past, but thy cheeks were wet in secret before the Lord; now thou art grown blind.
 * 1) * 1879, John Berwick Harwood, Young Lord Penrith, chapter 34; as serialized in, 1879 June 21, Chambers's Journal, fourth series, number 808; which was reprinted in, Chambers's Journal 1879, page 387 :
 * I call him poor; but time was, that in our intercourse I was the obliged party.