Promises of happier times dawn for the financially distressed Patterson family when father Sweeney and brother-in-law Archibald "Doc" Finney win a $150,000 grand prize in the sweepstakes contest. With their windfall, each member of the family decides to pursue a dream. Drummer Sweeney reorganizes his old high school ragtime band, while Doc bankrolls his own horse betting system. Mother Elsie, who won an art contest in high school, takes up the easel and paint brush, while daughter Mary enrolls in finishing school in hopes of snagging a rich husband, and Junior is shipped off to military school. Grandpa Casey Patterson, meanwhile, thinks that the whole brood has taken leave of their senses. Clouds begin to darken the family's dreams when Sweeney hires the comely Yolo to spice up his band, and Mr. Jordan, the wealthy father of Mary's suitor, Johnny Jordan, pays a surprise visit to the family and is shocked to find Yolo balancing on Sweeney's back. Matters go from bad to worse when during the band's debut, Yolo's jailbird boyfriend Diamond beats up Sweeney and the police arrest band member Phil Stokes for robbery and assault with a deadly weapon. Next, Elsie reads that her art teacher is a swindler and has run off with her money. With both her parents brought down to earth, Mary is expelled from school for Johnny's indiscretions and happily returns home to her old beau, Eddie Dunn. Although the whole family is now broke, the Pattersons' fortunes begin to change once again as Elsie wins a thirty-five dollar first prize for a painting that Grandpa unwittingly drenched.