Maggie, a Park Avenue social climber, will do anything to get her name into the Blue Book of the New York elite. Her husband Jiggs, however, is a construction contractor and a simpleton who would rather have his name permanently engraved on his bar stool at Dinty Moore's saloon than see it in a social register. When Maggie learns that Mr. Van de Graft, a confidence artist posing as a genealogist, has found her family's coat of arms, and that he is coming to her apartment with her family tree, she quickly sees to it that the apartment is in order. Maggie fears that her husband and her visiting sister's brood of children will make a bad impression on Van de Graft, but he arrives before she can send them away. The family tree, Maggie believes, is the one item she needs to have "every socialite in town bowing and scraping" before her. Complications soon arise, however, when Jiggs mistakes Van de Graft for an intruder and tries to throw him out of the apartment. When Maggie finds an advertisement in the newspaper for Dale Carnegie's courses in "How to Advance Socially," she decides that the courses will help refine her husband's tastes and improve his social skills. Carnegie, however, first tackles Maggie's problems and tells her that she must learn how to control her temper. Later, Van de Graft returns to Jiggs and Maggie's apartment and tells Maggie that she must redecorate it to make it fit for entertaining society. While Van de Graft is making decorating suggestions, Maggie looks out the window and sees Jiggs arriving at the building in the company of a young blonde. Distracted by what she thinks is an infidelity on her husband's part, Maggie inadvertently gives Van de Graft carte blanche to do with the apartment whatever he wishes. When Jiggs enters the apartment, she nearly clobbers him with a chair, but at the last moment she remembers Carnegie's advice and decides to "kill him with kindness" instead. To Maggie's delight, her first plunge into the world of society comes when she is introduced to Arthur Murray, founder of the Arthur Murray Dance School. Her mood quickly changes, though, when she sees Jiggs watching his female companion modelling a coat for him. Maggie returns home to find the police investigating the disappearance of her little nephew Tommy. The police bring Jiggs to the apartment for questioning, and the blonde, Millicent Parker, is brought in with him. Maggie is about to tear into Millicent when Van de Graft convinces her to be kind to the woman because she can help her rise in society. Maggie hides her disgust and accepts an invitation from Millicent to a soiree at her house. Soon after meeting Van de Graft, Millicent becomes wise to his family tree scheme. At Millicent's soiree , Van de Graft argues with his jewel-thieving pals and warns them not to spoil his plans. When the jewel theft is discovered, Jiggs's saloon pal, Dugan, is accused of the crime. Dugan is about to be escorted to the police by the real thieves when Dinty pulls a gun on them and makes a citizen's arrest. After Van de Graft's scheme is exposed, Maggie learns that Jiggs was only interested in Millicent because she was Maggie's size and could model the coat that was to be her birthday present.