For thousands of Americans throughout the 19th and early 20th centuries, dime novels and pulp magazines were their first experiences with the emerging world of mass-produced material culture. One such purveyor was the Street & Smith publishing house, which began in 1855 and published a wide variety of popular literature (such as homemaking magazines, comics, and dime novels) for over 100 years. These products didn't often have a great deal of originality, as the company viewed fiction as a commodity, and editors dictated plots and characters to writers, a list that included Horatio Alger, Upton Sinclair, and Jack London. This link will take visitors to a site that lists online resources regarding Horatio Alger Jr., a figure who cast a giant shadow in the world of dime novels, and who is best known for his series of tomes that celebrated the rags to riches mythos. Here visitors can peruse course syllabi that address Alger's body of work, online versions of his novels, and various online biographies.