Wiktionary
phr. It was once true (that)...
Wikipedia
Time Was is a documentary television series that premiered on HBO on November 11, 1979. It was hosted by Dick Cavett with each program looking at one decade from the past starting from the 1920s up to the 1970s. The historical program looked at the lifestyles and society during the various periods of time. The series was followed up with two other HBO documentary series hosted by Cavett, Remember When and Yesteryear.
Usage examples of "time was".
Since computer time was a scarce resource, we used a sort of batch processing technique.
Men who had been dropped into their racial and ancestral pasts until the present time was less real than the dreams conditioning them had a difficult job evaluating any situation.
He could not rid himself of a feeling that there was something to be done and that time was his enemy.
Perhaps she too was troubled by the sense that here time was subtly telescoped, that past and present might be meeting.
Logically, Seaine would tell her what she wanted when the time was ripe, and it would be nothing she could not do.
They worked without any waste motion at a speed which suggested that time was of the essence.
Well, her own relaxation this day would be whatever time was required to change out of riding clothes and snatch a hasty meal.
Whether they said they had seen the future Queen or simply a woman who held the city for a time was the question.
Their only way of telling time was by the hours marked on the dial of Renfry's watch.