Mendel and Zelde Marantz are a working-class couple with five children. Zelde comes from a wealthy family, but she eloped with Mendel for love. After years of his unemployment, her patience is wearing thin. He’s an inventor, and he can’t stand to work menial jobs because it stifles his creativity. He’s convinced that his work will change the world and make the family wealthy. Zelde, a housewife, constantly begs Mendel to get a job, but he stays home all day tinkering with his inventions. One day, their eldest daughter Sarah gets laid off. With no income, Zelde tells Mendel that she and Sarah will work at a dressmaker’s shop while he takes on the domestic duties. Zelde believes that Mendel will tire of housework and finally seek gainful employment. Mendel struggles to manage the children and chores at first, but he steadily improves. Zelde’s plan is backfiring. She comes home each day to a sparkling house and children who rely on their father more than her. She’s baffled—how could the fanciful Mendel have learned these skills so well? When she notices some of a local janitor’s supplies in the bedroom, she puts the pieces together. Zelde is sure that Mendel is sleeping with Rifke, the janitor’s wife, and she’s cleaning the house for him. Zelde is so consumed with anger that she nearly faints at work. She goes home, where she finds Rifke, the janitor, Mendel, Morton (Mendel’s lawyer nephew), and two businessmen. They’re discussing a patent for Mendel’s latest robotic invention, the Combination House-Cleaner. Mendel credits Zelde for inspiring him, and he assures her that they’ll finally be well-off.