By the time I got into the hobby, (1956) you could no longer take the Novice or Technician tests at the FCC office. Previously that had not been the case. Before the FCC stopped giving the Technician exam, since the Tech written was identical to the General written, if you had taken and passed the Tech test at the FCC office, you had credit for the General written if you went to the FCC and took the General code of 13 wpm.
By 1956 the Tech and Novice both were only offered by mail. The test had to be administered by a General or higher class ham, but only one - no team. You applied to the FCC and you received an envelope with the test sealed inside. You took this unopened to your chosen examiner. He opened the first envelope and you filled out the application. He administered the code test, and he immediately decided if you passed or not. The code test was receiving first, and then sending. You had to pass both.
If you did not, he could not open the second envelope, containing the written test, but had to return it to the FCC. If you passed, he opened the second envelope and proctered the written. He was not supposed to advise you afterward if you had passed or failed, as he did not have the actual answers. He then sealed the code test certification and the written exam in the supplied envelope, and mailed them to the FCC. About nine weeks later you would receive your license in the mail.
In the mid 50s, the Novice ticket permitted operation on CW only, on narrow segments of the 80, 40, 15 meter bands. Frequencies were 3750-3800, 7150-7200, and 21100-21250, the biggest band for the Novice. The Novice was also permitted AM voice operation on 145-147 MHZ. On all frequencies, Novices were permitted no more than 75 watts plate power input to the final stage of the transmitter, and were limited to crystal control. The license was good for one year, could not be renewed, and if you had ever held any US ham license, you could never again apply for a Novice ticket. It was a beginner's ticket only.
The Technician could be held simultaneously with the Novice. During the mid 50s, the frequencies allowed a Technician did not overlap those allowed a Novice, so the two could not communicate with each other. In addition, the Technician was good for five years and could be renewed. Consequently a lot of Novices also got Technician tickets, often just to "preserve the call sign" until they could get their General. The reason for this was the Technician call sign issued was the same as the Novice call sign except without the Novice designator. My own Novice call sign was KN4JSG and my Technician call sign was K4JSG. When my Novice ran out, I still had the same call sign I would have had had I upgraded to General.
The Technician ticket did NOT allow operation on two meters! But it allowed "all amateur privileges" including full power (one kilowatt input) on six meters and then on 220 mhz and above. The Technician ticket was issued by the FCC to "encourage experimentation on VHF and above."
Some time in the early 1960s, Technicians were granted access to two meters as well. Around that time the Novice became a two year term instead of one, and could be renewed. By the time Incentive Licensing came along, the Novice bands were shifted down. Eighty meters moved from 3750-3800 down to 3700-3750, for example, to make room for more SSB operation by higher classes of licensees. Forty meters shifted from 7150-7200 down to 7100-7150.
A bit of the past!
Ed