In article et, "KØHB"
writes:

"N2EY" wrote


What I find most interesting is the high percentage of "by-mail"
hams in those days - more than 40%! Even if we allow that a
significant percentage of Technicians were FCC-office-tested,
we still have well over 1 in 3 hams of those days with "by-mail"
licenses.


Nobody was tested "by mail".

I got the term from the ARRL License Manual. That's how they describe the
volunteer examiner process.

They were tested by volunteer examiners

One (1) volunteer examiner was required - as opposed to a team of at least 3
Volunteer Examiners today.

(as are virtually ALL of todays
applicants --- what goes around, comes around) who just happened to
obtain the test material through the postal service.

The postal service was an integral part of the process. The volunteer examiner
had to send a letter to FCC requesting test materials, which then came by mail
and were returned by mail in sealed envelopes.

Sunuvagun!

Those volunteer examiners did not prepare or grade the written exams. They
simply proctored the exam, certifying that the examinee did not get any help.

Yes, some volunteer examiners would look over a written test and give an
unofficial pass/fail opinion. But it was FCC that graded the exams.

And the main point remains: The percentage of US hams back then who did not
face the steely-eyed FCC examiner was quite high. I'm pretty sure that in some
parts of the country, "tested by mail" hams were the vast majority.

Not that there's anything wrong with that!

73 de Jim, N2EY