Success Manuals

Abstract

The ideal of success has been a pervasive theme in American life, and prescriptions for achieving success have assumed a wide range of cultural forms. One of these has been the success manual, which experienced its greatest proliferation and impact on U.S. culture during the Gilded Age (1873–1900) and Progressive Era (1890–1915). Tailored toward male, middle-class audiences, success manuals equated success with manliness and gave detailed advice not only on choosing an occupation and developing a career, but on all forms of public and private behavior.