- John Paul Bart, a presser who has high respect for the favorable impression created by expensive clothes, "borrows" a suit to wear to an exclusive reception. There he attracts the attention of shipping magnate Abraham Nathan, who hires John Paul to handle his company's labor problems. Against great odds and despite Gustavus Sonntag's scheming, John Paul is successful, but he returns to Anton Huber's shop when he is exposed by Sonntag. Nathan, however, finds him and gives him a permanent position, and John Paul then marries Tanya Huber.
- John Paul Bart is mistaken for the arbitrator in a big steamship labor case when in actuality he is a lowly pants presser. When the truth comes out, he proves that he is not merely an impostor but a young man of promise. He sets out to win legitimately the position he had held by mistake.—Jim Beaver <jumblejim@prodigy.net>
- John Paul Bart works as a clothes presser in the tailor shop of Anton Huber. John Paul is a reader and a thinker, and has a theory on the psychology of clothes. He believes that good clothes create a good impression, but that much depends upon the individual to sustain that impression. Others in the tailor shop include Huber's daughter Tanya, who is engaged to the radical and intellectual Dr. Gustavius Sonntag, and Peter, a tailor's apprentice, who is a sour fellow, much like Huber. Tanya is the only person who believes John Paul has any good in him. Sonntag believes John Paul is a loafer. One night John Paul puts on a dress suit which he had pressed, and attends a reception at the home of Stanlaw, a patrician. Through a series of misunderstandings, John Paul is accepted as an invited guest, and attracts the interest of Abraham Nathan, President of the Oceanic Steamship Corporation. Nathan invites John Paul to go on a yacht cruise the next day. Meanwhile, the Corporation has been having labor troubles, with agitators attempting to reach Nathan. While on the yacht, the agitators try to climb aboard from a launch, but John Paul saves the day. As a reward, he is given a position with the Corporation, and prospers in high society. He attracts the attention of society girls Connie Stanlaw, Claire Nathan, and Bessie Dupuy; but in his heart, John Paul carries a torch for Tanya. Tanya, disgusted with Sonntag, keeps a scrapbook of articles on John Paul. Sonntag, furious with jealousy, sets out to ruin John Paul. Sonntag attempts to obstruct John Paul as the latter tries to prevent a strike. John Paul had promised to deliver a document to the workers, which would have prevented the strike. But Sonntag and his thugs waylay him. They chase him through alleyways and along wharves, onto a four-masted schooner and up the rigging. John Paul throws Sonntag from the wharf, beats off the adversaries, and then, with the document folded, he shoves it in his mouth and dives off a cross beam into the water. He eventually reaches the shipyards and prevents the strike. The next morning, a big story appears in the newspaper, courtesy of Sonntag, exposing John Paul as an ex-pants presser. John Paul, in resignation, returns to the tailor shop, where Tanya waits for him. As John Paul is pressing clothes, Nathan comes in and asks "why are you not at your desk at Oceanic offices?" Nathan then reminds the young man that Lincoln was once a rail-splitter, and then went on to become President of the United States. So John Paul returns to the Corporation, and wins Tanya's hand in marriage.
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