Tiden was founded in 1933 by the Norwegian Labour Party.
In the early years the largest authors were Aksel Sandemose and Lars Berg, with large names such as Alf Prøysen and Anne Cath.
During the German occupation of Norway 1940-45 Tiden was the only publishing company closed by the German forces, with chairman Kolbjørn Fjeld being arrested in the fall of 1940.
Large numbers of books were confiscated and destroyed.
In 1947 the company was reorganized with the Labour Party, the Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions (LO) and Norwegian Union of Chemical Industry Workers the largest owners.