There was a time when the writing in The Smart Set set the tone for the social and cultural debates of the period. Founded in 1900 as a magazine for New York's upper classes, The Smart Set became a venue for the literary avant-garde in 1913 under the editorship of Willard Huntington Wright. His his year-long tenure introduced a new level of quality, maintained and developed by his successors, co-editors H. L. Mencken and George Jean Nathan-who turned The Smart Set into a cultural force unlike any in the literary landscape of the time. About the editors:

H. L. Mencken (1880-1956) was an author and editor whose reputation preceded him-courting controversy at every turn and projecting. As co-editor of The Smart Set and The American Mercury with George Jean Nathan, he gave more writers their first chance than most editors of his time.

George Jean Nathan (1882-1958) was a theater critic and editor. As co-editor of The Smart Set and The American Mercury with H.L. Mencken, he had an outsize influence on American literature and drama.

Willard Huntington Wright (1888-1939), an art critic known as S. S. Van Dine-a name under which he published detectives novels-edited The Smart Set between 1913-1914, turning the periodical into one of America's most ambitious literary magazines.