No.
Really, no, for all the usual reasons.
Apostrophes denote dropped letters or possessive, so you don’t need one before that s in constructions like “the music of the 1940s.” You could argue about “1940s’ music” (look closely at the position of that apostrophe), but I will maintain that “1940s” should be treated as an adjective and keep my eye on you for the rest of the semester.
Dropped letters, remember, so this is okay: “These conditions endured through the 1870s and ’80s.” We’ve dropped the numbers showing the century.
“I love those ’70′s haircuts.” No! Two kinds of no! Unless you’re being campy, in which case one kind of no! The s is there to denote plural–the several years that make up the decade–not to show possessive.
Many questions of grammar can be answered by trying a substitution, and for apostrophes there are two.
- Is this a conjunction, thus needing an apostrophe? i.e., could it be written without the dropped letters?
- It['?]s a foregone conclusion–> It is a foregone conclusion. –> It’s a foregone conclusion
- it['?]s only drawback –> it is only drawback –> its only drawback
- Is this a possessive, thus needing an apostrophe?
- It['?]s a foregone conclusion–> the conclusion of it? no–”it” isn’t doing the concluding, so this isn’t a possessive.
- their/they’re [?] final reward –> the reward belonging to them [in other words, possessive] –> their final reward
- 1950['?]s fashions –> do fashions typical of the decade belong to that decade? If you think yes, you put the apostrophe after the s because it’s a plural –> 1950s’ fashions
Maybe you really do mean it possessively, as in a sentence like “I’m a child of the 1960s.” But the word order there undoes the need for an apostrophe–we don’t write “the throne of the king’s” as equivalent to “the king’s throne.” Or again, placement: “the House of Blues” would be rewritten “Blues’ House” unless you meant that dog who gets mail.
Here, finally, is a situation where you would use an apostrophe:
- The countdown ended, the ball dropped, and 1950′s reign came to a close.
—————————-
Here’s a great list of things to assess while line editing
