know from

[Rudolph C Troike]

I am familiar with the locution from at least the 40s, in South Texas,
almost always used somewhat jocularly in the deliberately informal "-g
dropping" pronunciation of "nothing" in the fixed phrase: "He don't know
from nothin'". The only likelihood of Yiddish influence in South Texas
would be via radio programs (Fibber McGee & Molly, Jack Benny, etc.) The
collocation can be a condensation of "He doesn't know X from Y" (X =
anything, Y = a hole in the ground, etc.).

        Rudy