How long has "the decade" been considered a key unit of cultural time?

by Limin8tor

In the United States, most folks have conceptions of the 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, etc. as different cultural eras, with distinct national moods and touchstones. I also know there's similar notions of "The Roaring Twenties" and "The Gay Nineties". But how far back does this cultural fascination with ten-year periods go? And how widely do other countries and communities subscribe to the same rubric?

lord_mayor_of_reddit

While more can always be written, versions of this question come up in this sub from time to time. You may be interested in this previous answer of mine to a similar question, which also points back to this even earlier answer of mine which provides more information.

You may also want to read /u/jbdyer's answer in that same thread as my first answer, which provides more information as well.