From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishtime was (when)time was (when)used to say that there was a time when you used to be able to do something, when something used to happen etc Time was when no one had television. → time
Examples from the Corpus
time was (when)• Time was when you could buy a new car for less than $500.• Unfortunately, although a good time was had by all, a number of the team picked up a strange flu bug.• The election was not settled until close to the inauguration, so not much time was available to plan the festivities.• It was comfortable with its premature senescence but at the same time was wired with a wildness and youthful energy.• A few minutes of television time was so precious.• It was a sweet life, but Gore at the time was reinventing government and saving the Earth.• The besetting sin of the time was drunkenness, and a couple of notorious drunks lived near Richard Baxter.• The paper ran a page-one correction, noting that the time was right for Hawaii.• Within the political mainstream, the spirit of these times was consensual. 