“Perseverance and sweet oil” seems like a Texas way of doing things, but this phrase dates from at least the mid-19th century.
Google Books
History of the Express Business
by Alexander Lovett Stimson
New York: Baker & Godwin
1881
Pg. 182:
“But patience, perseverance and sweet oil,
Make all things work agreeably to Hoyle.”
Making of America
March 1854, Putnam’s Monthly Magazine, pg. 302:
...nevertheless, “patience, perseverance, and sweet oil” will, in time, cure this and all other absurdities and evils in Missouri, or under the sun.
29 April 1859, Daily Columbus Enquirer (Columbus, GA), pg. 3:
A little time and lubrication—perseverance and sweet oil, will overcome all the difficulty.
[Lou. Jour.
7 December 1952, Dallas Morning News, part 1, pg. 23:
For many months, perseverance and sweet oil, to use an old Texas phrase, have been used with manufacturers of tubular goods.
Above, a 1934 plaque from the Big Apple Night Club at West 135th Street and Seventh Avenue in Harlem. Discarded as trash in 2006. Now a Popeyes fast food restaurant on Google Maps.
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Above, Big Apple Corner at 54th Street and Broadway in Manhattan. Google Maps. Stolen and missing, 2021-2024.
Above, John J. Fitz Gerald, from the Aug. 15, 1931, Binghamton (NY) Press, pg. 14.
Listen to Robert Emmerich introduce "The Big Apple," a hit song from 1937. Music written by Bob and performed by Tommy Dorsey's Clambake Seven with Bob on piano. Lyrics written by Buddy Bernier and sung by Edythe Wright. Audio provided by Dorothy Emmerich.
Also listen to a 1937 "The Big Apple" song by Ozzie Nelson and his Orchestra. See a 1929 photo of John J. Fitz Gerald and a 1931 photo of John J. Fitz Gerald.
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