100 years ago, 1917
The Androscoggin Foundry Company on Washington street, Auburn, is a busy place these days. The foundry is doing a big amount of heavy work for the Texas Steamship Company of Bath. George W. McFadden, the proprietor, said a big concern recently sub-let some government work to him. Mr. McFadden refused to divulge the nature of the work but intimated that it pertained to shells.

50 years ago, 1967
(Photo Caption) A Lewiston detective and an Auburn police captain turned actors this morning, playing roles in a shoplifting episode filmed by WEBH-TV of Boston as a police training film which is to be shown on television. The action was shot in front of Poliquin’s Jewelry Store at Lisbon and Pine Streets, Lewiston. Captain Leslie Stewart of Auburn trails Detective Norman Poulin of Lewiston, coming out of the store. Poulin supposedly had just been seen by Stewart, shoplifting a package.

25 years ago, 1992
“Come to Lewiston, the Industrial Heart of Maine,” the decorative stamps proclaim. The late Louis Philippe Gagne had the stamps printed during his tenure as mayor in 1947-1948. Along with similarly themed posters and pins, thousands of them were distributed in an effort to promote the city. A cache of several hundred thousand more recently came to light, and are now available at Reflections, a Bates Street second-hand shop. Store owner Marty Tuttle is giving the stamps away free to anyone interested in carrying out Gagne’s original intent: to promote Lewiston. The 1-inch by 1 and 1/2-inch stamps come in a rainbow of colors. The design displays a map of Maine. Arrows point toward the heart that marks Lewiston’s location, and the message beckoning visitors stands in simple block letters.

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