Mary is a coal miner's daughter and wants to get away from everything coal. She dates Frank, a coal miner taking accounting courses. One day, sophisticated Art Forbes comes to town on business. He falls in love with Mary, and proposes. Mary realizes he can provide her with a ticket out of coal-town, but, when Frank becomes trapped in a mine accident, Mary waits anxiously outside the mine entrance until he is rescued. She realizes then that Frank is the man she loves.

Defense plant worker Debbie dates foreman Charles after her sweetheart Tom leaves for military duty in Korea. Charles falls in love with Debbie and proposes. Tom is alerted to the situation by a tattle-tale neighbor and returns to town. He is re-united with Debbie but his embrace leaves her cold and she realizes she no longer loves him. Tom senses the change in Debbie and generously allows Debbie to end the relationship. Debbie marries Charles.

Meg loves both a handsome, solid, young lawyer and a wild, impulsive, young author living in an old mill. She opts for the author.

Janet is so sure of Ted's undying love she casually flirts with other men. One day at Ted's home, she finds and surreptitiously reads a passionate letter from Ted to a mysterious woman named 'Hannah' and grows jealous. She is miserable when he stops calling and finally confronts him. He tells her 'Hannah' was a fiction devised to teach her a lesson about love and loyalty. She admits having learned a hard lesson and begs his forgiveness.

Plain-Jane Thelma Johnson is a tireless drudge to her sister May, a flirtatious young woman with truckloads of boyfriends. One day, Thelma meets a Dr. Allan and is stunned when he falls in love with her. She returns his love. May doesn't want to lose her slave to marriage and tries to wreck her sister's relationship by making an aggressive play for the doctor. Thelma grows anxious but secures the doctor's love by giving herself a glamorous makeover. She realizes May has exploited her sisterly affection for years and brushes her off.