Green’s Dictionary of Slang

(Aus./N.Z.) a navy blue or black woollen singlet worn by Aus. and N.Z. shearers and bushmen; also attrib.

1900		West. Champion & General Advertiser (Barcaldine, Qld) 6 Mar. 11: They present bill Adams witha Jacky Howe singlet.
1925		Cairns Post (Qld) 24 Mar. 9/2: He [...] saw the official in a sleeveless singlet (a Jackie Howe shirt, I presume). [...] those Jackie Howes are cool and comfortable.
1930		Bulletin 9 Apr. 19: Long Jim was telling us how [...] it took nine bars of soap to wash his ‘Jacky Howe’ flannel.
1934		Central Qld Herald (Rockhampton, Qld) 26 July 12/3: [He] would fly into a towering rage and bust his jackie howe.
1936		Western Champion (Qld) 12 Dec. 3/1: ‘Scandalous’ Graham in a jack Howe flannel, was sitting hunched in bunk.
1941		Worker (Brisbane) 7 Jan. 8/1: He was the first man I ever saw wearing a Jacky Howe.
1949		R. Park Poor Man’s Orange 122: He had finished his tea and was sitting in his Jackie Howe, which is a singlet with the sleeves out of it, and called after a famous shearer, of the blade days.
1953		B. Stronach Musterer on Molesworth 30: Shearers, attired usually in moccasins of sacking, trousers, and a ‘Jackie Howe,’ which is a flannel vest affair.
1967		‘Whisper All Aussie Dict.’ in Kings Cross Whisper (Sydney) xxxv 6/3: jackie howe: A singlet worn by shearers.
1988		McGill Dict. of Kiwi Sl. 62/2: Jacky Howe navy or black sleeveless woollen singlet worn by labourers; after champion shearer.
2002		Sydney Morning Herald 18 Jan. 🌐 Few men get to have a singlet named after them, but that was the least of Jackie Howe’s achievements [...] For much of the 20th century, the sleeveless shirt worn by shearers was known as a Jacky Howe. The real Jack Howe wore a woollen shirt with sleeves.
2006		Age (Melbourne) 6 Jan. 🌐 The Jackie Howe singlets had a sewn patch on the left side. The singlet is named after, arguably, the greatest shearer ever.