"Wife-beater" as article of clothing

[RonButters at AOL.COM]

In a message dated 5/12/2000 2:02:56 PM, highbob at MINDSPRING.COM writes:

<< can't a literary source be the inspiration for a term, without the
term itself being used in the source? >>

I wouldn't in principle want to rule it out--but I'd want SOMETHING concrete
to pin it on, e.g., a contemporaneous account in which someone said for the
first time, "a wife-beater shirt--you know, like Stanley wore in STREETCAR."

My own scepticism about the putative STREETCAR/WIFE-BEATER connection is
further heightened by my own acquaintance with the term. I have been familiar
with STREETCAR for over 40 years, but I never heard the term WIFE-BEATER =
'white tank-top-type undergarment' until the last few months.