In the small town of Millvale, Cyrus Bumpsted, kindhearted but meek, has been a clerk at a clothing store for thirty years. His nagging wife Jennie relentlessly compares him to her former suitor, the handsome and sophisticated Chester Armstrong, whom Jennie is sure must now be a wealthy man. Two of the Bumpsted daughters, Mabel and Myra, are homely and unattached and side with their mother, while the third daughter, beautiful and kindly Elaine, defends her father. When Jennie, Myra and Mabel go to the movies, leaving the dishes for Cyrus and Elaine, Elaine arranges a secret meeting with her boyfriend, Bill Clark, whom her mother has forbidden her to see because he is a grocer's delivery boy. Cyrus' friend, Sam Green, persuades Cyrus to go with him to a lodge meeting of the Sacred Salamanders. At the lodge, Armstrong, who is passing through town, tries to sell Cyrus and Sam bad stocks, but they elude him and go home, drunk on cider. At the Bumpsteds', Bill asks Elaine to elope with him, but she insists on getting married in her own house. She then gets her father's consent while Bill fetches neighbor Judge Stump to perform the ceremony. At the same time, Sam and Cyrus attempt to do the dishes, breaking many of them in the process. Jennie returns just as Elaine and Bill say "I do." She is furious over the marriage and the broken dishes and orders Bill from the house. When Cyrus defends Bill, Jennie says she is through with him. Elaine cannot desert her father now and Bill leaves angry. Armstrong follows Cyrus and Sam to the house and spends the night. The next morning, Jennie dresses up and flirts with Armstrong, and Cyrus, emasculated, offers him his wife, but he assures Cyrus he does not want her. Detective Quirk arrives looking for "Slippery Chet," Armstrong's criminal moniker, and although Cyrus covers for Armstrong to shield Jennie from the truth, Elaine, furious at her mother's constant browbeating, tells her the truth about her former beau. Armstrong hides outside the house, but is caught by the police. Jennie then confesses that Armstrong was really only a butcher boy when she knew him. Bill is now welcomed as a member of the family, and Cyrus takes his place as the man of the house and starts giving orders.