yore

It appeared strange to me that the “little dipper” should be still diving quietly in the river, as of yore; and it suggested that this bird might continue to dive here when Concord should be no more.

1860, Henry David Thoreau, The Last Days of John Brown

In days of yore and times long gone before there was a Sultan of India who begat three sons; the eldest hight Prince Husayn, the second Prince Ali, and the youngest Prince Ahmad; moreover he had a niece, named Princess Nur al-Nihár, the daughter of his cadet brother who, dying early, left his only child under her uncle's charge.

1886-88, Richard Francis Burton, The Supplemental Nights to the Thousand Nights and a Night

Several logistics executives told me that if half-full freight vans from multiple firms kept congesting the streets, the best solution might be for every retailer to use a single firm instead. One delivery service to rule them all – just like the postal service of yore.

2019 November 21, Samanth Subramanian, “How our home delivery habit reshaped the world”, in The Guardian