There was a vanity period for a short time in the 70s as well.
Yes, there was a short period in the late 70s where Extras could apply for specific 1x2 callsigns. There was no opportunity for non-Extras to apply for a preferred callsign, and I don't think Extras could apply for anything but the 1x2s. But the FCC never referred to that program as a "vanity" program, and those licensees who still hold those calls are not listed as HV calls like all of the post-1995 vanity applicants--they are HA callsigns just like the sequential issues.
All true.
The specific-call program was short-lived, though.
My call was sequentially issued in late 1977 when I moved to New York State. When I moved back to PA in 1979, I kept it, because FCC had announced that they would not reissue calls such as N2EY if they were given up (!). So if I'd gotten a 3 land 1x2, someone else would not.
Now it's almost 40 years later.....
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If one looks through old Callbooks of the era, the 1x2s have a rather odd pattern to them, at least in the 2nd call district. One would think that they would have started with N2AA and just gone down the alphabet, but a look through the listings shows big gaps in the sequence. Eventually they went back and filled them in.
73 de Jim, N2EY