I'm trying to use ActionMailer without rails. Perhaps I'm tired, but I am quite confused by the following: irb(main):001:0> require 'action_mailer' => true irb(main):002:0> irb(main):003:0* class Emailer < ActionMailer::Base irb(main):004:1> def initialize irb(main):005:2> super() irb(main):006:2> end irb(main):007:1> end => nil irb(main):008:0> email = Emailer.new => nil Why am I getting nil out of that statement (it's not just irb, I checked)? I've found the documentation at: http://api.rubyonrails.com/classes/ActionMailer/Base.html#M000291 http://am.rubyonrails.org/ But I'm still at a loss.