Do And Dare

<p>If you've 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.</p><p> </p><p>Alger's 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.</p><p> </p><p>Alger's writings happened to correspond with America's Gilded Age a time of increasing prosperity in a nation rebuilding from the Civil War.</p><p> </p><p>His lifelong theme of rags to riches continued to gain popularity but has gradually lessened since the 1920s.</p><p> </p><p>Still readers today often come across Ragged Dick and stories like it in school.</p><p> </p><p> </p>