If youve ever used the phrase rags to riches, you owe that to Horatio Alger, Jr. (1832-1899), who popularized the idea through his fictional writings that also served as a theme for the way America viewed itself as a country. Algers works about poor boys rising to better living conditions through hard work, determination, courage, honesty, and morals was popular with both adults and younger readers. Algers writings happened to correspond with Americas Gilded Age, a time of increasing prosperity