Statistics-obsessed researcher Oliver Boggs wins $1,500 in a movie theater contest when he correctly guesses the number of beans in a barrel. Although Oliver is a timid man, his older colleague, Mr. Jenkins, advises him to use the money to quit his job and seek romance and adventure. Oliver's quest takes him to Peckham Falls, a small upstate New York town, in which an idle barrel factory is for sale. Despite the warnings of some of the local citizens about the factory, Oliver buys it for $400 and then convinces the unemployed workers that he will hire them as soon as he convinces local pickle plant owner Morton P. Ross to buy his barrels. Angus Tubbs, the father of Oliver's secretary Oleander, has invented a revolutionary collapsible barrel and Oliver is certain that it will make a fortune. He convinces the men to work for a share of the profits when the orders come in, against the advice of labor agitator Burns. Jenkins is unconvinced of the barrel's merits, however, so Oliver goes on a sales trip throughout the East. Although he fails to get orders, he wires his own remaining money back to the factory, saying that he has. When he returns, the whole town cheers him, but he has to admit his failure. He has an inspiration, however, and convinces Ross that his pickles will stay fresher and tastier in wood than in jars. Meanwhile, Dennis Andrews, who is trying to buy Ross's plant, secretly obtains the rights to Angus' invention by convincing him that Oliver and Ross's niece, Irene Lee, with whom Oliver is smitten, are in love. Fearing that Oleander, who loves Oliver, will be spurned, Angus signs an exclusive agreement with Mason. That night, at a dance given by Ross, however, Oliver arrives just in time to reveal that, while in Washington, he had registered the patent in Oleander's name because of Angus' reputation for eccentricity. As the patent owner, Oleander then says that she will do business with Ross, who announces that the pickle and the barrel factories will be in full operation on Monday. They also discover that a drunken Philadelphia playboy to whom Oliver gave a barrel as a cat carrier, has been marketing it for him to a large chemical business owned by his girl friend's father, thus paving the way for an even bigger success. Finally, Oliver realizes that Irene is not the woman for him, and Oleander informs him that ninety per cent of all married men are run by their wives, something she will soon prove.