The Saturday Evening Post was one of the most influential and popular magazines in America from 1900 to 1930. With its mix of business news, nonfiction, romance stories, sports, humor, and illustrations, the Post—as it was known—set the standard for the weekly variety magazine. Although the Post remained in print for most of the twentieth century, its influence faded after the 1930s.

Publisher Cyrus H. K. Curtis (1850–1933) purchased the struggling Saturday Evening Post in 1897. He hired George Horace Lorimer (1867–1937) to edit his magazine. Lorimer believed in honesty, integrity, hard work, and self-reliance. He edited the magazine to promote these values, but he also knew that the purpose of a magazine was to entertain. He hired some of the best writers and illustrators in America.

Lorimer tried to provide the Post's readers with a little bit of everything; he wanted to create a magazine...