When conceiving his new publication entitled "The Smart Set", Mann wished to include works "by, for and about 'The Four Hundred'," referring to Ward McAllister's claim that there were only 400 fashionable people in New York's upper society. As a so-called "pasha of the Gilded Age," Mann sought to provide sophisticated content that would reinforce the social values of New York's social elite. As such, Mann initially sought out those writers who were supposedly "from the ranks of the best society of Europe and America." Mann gave his new publication the subtitle "The Magazine of Cleverness."