[MIham] Why we are called HAMS

[FSK]

"Ham: a poor operator. A 'plug.'"

That's the definition of the word given in G. M. Dodge's The Telegraph
Instructor even before radio. The definition has never changed in wire
telegraphy. The first wireless operators were landline telegraphers who left
their offices to go to sea or to man the coastal stations. They brought with
them their language and much of the tradition of their older profession.

In those early days, spark was king and every station occupied the same
wavelength-or, more accurately perhaps, every station occupied the whole
spectrum with its broad spark signal. Government stations, ships, coastal
stations and the increasingly numerous amateur operators all competed for
time and signal supremacy in each other's receivers. Many of the amateur
stations were very powerful. Two amateurs, working each other across town,
could effectively jam all the other operations in the area. When this
happened, frustrated commercial operators would call the ship whose weaker
signals had been blotted out by amateurs and say "SRI OM THOSE #&$!@ HAMS
ARE JAMMING YOU."

Amateurs, possibly unfamiliar with the real meaning of the term, picked it
up and applied it to themselves in true "Yankee Doodle" fashion and wore it
with pride. As the years advanced, the original meaning has completely
disappeared.

-Louise Ramsey Moreau W3WRE/WB6BBO

This came from the ARRL Web site:
There are two possibles does anyone else
have a similar story on this subject?

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