"Good ole Babe, I knew she could do it"

[Clyde]

During my walks, I have been listening to several shows where this running line frequently appears. How did it start? What is the significance of it?

[bboswell]

During my walks, I have been listening to several shows where this running line frequently appears. How did it start? What is the significance of it?

Babe (Mary Livingston's sister) is often the butt of Jack's jokes. She started appearing only in letters from Mary's mother, but soon developed into a character of her own. The jokes often revolved around her being homely and not very feminine. For example:

Jack: "Those strapless evening gowns are amazing, how do they keep them up?"
Mary: "I don't know about the other girls, but Babe uses fish hooks."

Later (I'm not sure what the first one was,) the jokes became a little outlandish. e.g. Jack would be listening to a wrestling match and when one wrestler would win Jack would say, "Good ole Babe, I knew she could do it." (I don't know if the wrestling match was actually in a show, that was just an example.)
Does this make more sense, or did I miss your question?