The first (and last) in an intended series about 'The Hobby Family', in which every family member was immersed in a hobby-pursuit of some kind: Here, Tom Leslie must choose between losing his job or publishing news in a manner he thinks is unfair. His wife, whose hobby is stamp-collecting, diverts his attention from his troubles at the newspaper by stirring up his interest in his own hobby, photography. Tom arranges to take his son, whose hobby is short-wave radio, on a vacation in the mountains at a site near a Civilian Conservation Corps camp and a forest-ranger station. A forest fire breaks out, and each family-member's hobby proves to have value.
Editor of a small-town newspaper, Tom Leslie (Henry O'Neill) is having some trouble at his newspaper job with policies of a new publisher, and is afraid of losing his job. So his wife Myra (Irene Rich), a stamp collector, suggests he distract himself with a former hobby of his own, photography. Tom is afraid he is going to lose his job. Son Robert (Jackie Moran) becomes so absorbed in his amateur radio set that he depletes his savings account and his studies suffer. He tries to fix a radio but gets electrocuted, not realizing he had to pull it out of the socket. The new newspaper publisher Mr. Hatfield (Frederic Tozere) comes for a visit. Robert gets mad at him for offering to help. His employer wants to sensationalize news and threatens to fire Tom if he doesn't go along. Tom tells him he's going on a three-to-four week camping trip, and HE should think over his ultimatum. Robert is happy that he passes his test for his ham radio license. Tom takes son Robert with him to the mountains tent camping where they both enjoy leisure time with their hobbies. A friendly forest ranger Mike Morgan (John Ridgely) stops by and asks them to watch for a pyromaniac who has been starting forest fires. He also invites them to a camp dance. Robert refuses because he is sick of women. He meets some girls and Robert soon realizes that he is not sick of women. A park ranger informs the Leslies that a pyromaniac is on the loose and to be careful. Soon, they and all the campers and farmers in the area of Pine Ridge are threatened by a roaring blaze. Morgan makes Tom a deputy fire marshal. When the telephone lines fail, Robert saves the day with his shortwave radio, which the rangers use to summon help, direct firefighters, and broadcast for firefighting volunteers. Tom's hobby then proves valuable when his telephoto camera, which had been set to photograph a deer, reveals a picture of the pyromaniac. Because his car was destroyed in the fire, Myra surprises him with a brand-new car purchased for $2,000 with the sale of some of her very valuable rare stamps. He gets a letter from the Forest Department telling him they will replace his camera and Tom's ham radio equipment, both burned up in the forest fire. For his exclusive news story and photo of the fire-starter, Tom is then rewarded with $2,000, and is reinstated as editor.
