Green’s Dictionary of Slang

(orig. commercial) usu. of a situation, to improve, to be getting better.

1850		Aytoun Dreepdaily Burghs 6: That party may not look up for some little time, and then the currency is a stumbling block in the way [F&H].
1900		Bulletin (Sydney) 16 Jun. 11/4: The committee has sent a printed circular to every subscriber, pointing out that there has been a steady financial loss for five years past, and that the institution must close, unless things look up.
1912		Bulletin (Sydney) 17 Oct. 13/4: [W]hen the Unbelievable Turk has to reform a little, things are looking up. The Church itself is looking up.
1967		P. Thomas Down These Mean Streets (1970) 13: A few weeks later Poppa got a job in an airplane factory. ‘How about that?’ he said happily. ‘Things are looking up for us.’.