Did people in the 1800’s refer to certain decades as the “70’s” or the “80’s”?

by sagelew

This is a question that has crossed my mind a couple times but I can’t find the answer on the interwebs. Did this living in the past, let’s say 1800’s, refer to decades as we did in the 1900’s e.g. the 40’s the 50’s or the 80’s?

mimicofmodes

Yes, sometimes, but the rise of people conceptualizing a decade as a discrete thing that can be characterized (rather than just a period of ten years) is really related to "Gay Nineties" nostalgia. You can read more about this in my answer to the question:

I've read on this sub that people used to be nostalgic for the 1890's during the decades that followed. What about this time were they nostalgic about? and what was the asthetic like in terms of culture and politics and business?