I've never heard them called Jackie Howes before   

Jackie Howe is depicted by a bronze statue in Blackall.[citation needed]

After his death in 1920, a poem was penned in 1940 in his honour, as King of the shearers.[14]

In October 2015, Howe's record was reported as still unbeaten after 123 years.[15]

Howe became the name given to navy blue singlet tops.[16][17] According to legend,[citation needed] this is what Howe was wearing on the day he broke the shearing record. It has also been indicated in a woolshed, a big shearer took his shirt and snipped off the sleeves with a pair of shears, saying "I'll make a Jackie Howe of it", with the name associated since.

The Jackie Howe singlet is a traditional sleeveless navy blue work shirt named after the legendary 19th-century Australian sheep shearer Jack "Jackie" Howe.

In October 1892 at Alice Downs station in Queensland, Jackie Howe set a world record by shearing 321 sheep in 7 hours and 40 minutes using only blade shears—a feat that remains unbroken.

Legend says Howe tore or cut the restrictive sleeves off his flannel work shirt to stay cool and move more freely while setting his monumental records, inspiring an Australian working-class icon.

Often styled as a deep-scoop, dark blue or black sleeveless tank top, the design became standard practical workwear across Australian and New Zealand shearing sheds, farms, and trade jobs.

Gnads wrote on Sep 29^th, 2026 at 10:38am:


Well, there ya go - I've learnt something.

I'd never even heard of him.

Before today, I'd only ever heard the term 'wife beater' for singlets which I always assumed originated from Marlon Brando in A Streetcar Named Desire (and other movies and TV shows where violent men wore singlets - Mafia figures, etc.).

Howe was born at Killarney near Warwick, Queensland. Jackie Howe's father, Jack Howe, was also a shearer and a clown with La Rosier's circus,[3] claiming to be the first clown to travel the Australian colonies, and was town-crier in Warwick.[4][5] His mother, Miss Stokes, was a lady's companion in 1840 at Canning Downs station and one of the first European women in the area, before marrying a second time to Jack Howe senior.[3] He grew up as a shearer around Warwick and the Darling Downs, before a short time at Tambo, trying gold prospecting.[3] It was there that he commenced professional shearing.[3]

Howe was active during the shearer strikes of the 1891[6] and 1894, and was a committed trade unionist.[7][8]

Later on Howe owned a public hotel, The Barcoo Hotel, in Blackall, Queensland.[5][when?] There is now a statue there of him holding a sheep.[9] He also at one time was a licensee of the Universal Hotel.[5] However publican life was not for him,[7] and he went onto purchase the property Shamrock Park, and then Summervale.[5]

After an extended illness, Howe died at Blackall in July 1920, leaving behind a widow, six sons, and two daughters.[5] After Howe's death, friend Queensland Premier T. J. Ryan[3] said, in a telegram to Howe's widow, "I have lost a true and trusted friend and Labor has lost a champion".

One son was John Henry Howe, but also known as Jack Howe.[5] He started as a chemist, but also went into shearing, and wrote a book on his father.[5] He later became a publican.[8] Another son, Leslie John Howe got married in March 1925.[10] The second son, Darsey John Howe, wed in September 1927.

Gnads wrote on Sep 29^th, 2026 at 10:38am:


Well, there ya go - I've learnt something.

I'd never even heard of him.

Before today, I'd only ever heard the term 'wife beater' for singlets which I always assumed originated from Marlon Brando in A Streetcar Named Desire (and other movies and TV shows where violent men wore singlets - Mafia figures, etc.).

Vic wrote on Sep 27^th, 2026 at 9:54am:


This description of the good old Jackie Howe singlet pisses me off.

Tell me Vic do you think all men who wear singlets are wife bashers?