WHY RADIO AMATEURS ARE CALLED "HAMS"
from Florida Skip Magazine - 1959
Have you ever wondered why radio amateurs are called "HAMS"?
Well, it goes like this: The word "HAM" as applied to 1908 was
the station call of the first amateur wireless stations operated by some
amateurs of the Harvard Radio Club. They were ALBERT S. HYMAN, BOB ALMY,
and POOGIE MURRAY. At first they called their station "HYMAN-ALMY-MURRAY".
Tapping out such a long name in code soon became tiresome and called for
a revision. They changed it to "HYALMU", using the first two
letters of each of their names. Early in 1901 some confusion resulted between
signals from the amateur wireless station "HYALMU" and a Mexican
ship named "HYALMO". They decided to use only the first letter
of each name, and the station call became "HAM".
In the early pioneer days of unregulated radio, amateur operators picked
their own frequency and call letters. Then, as now, some amateurs had better
signals than commercial stations. The resulting interference came to the
attention of congressional committees in Washington and Congress gave much
time to proposed legislation designed to critically limit amateur radio
activity.
In 1911, Albert Hyman chose the controversial WIRELESS REGULATION BILL
as the topic for his thesis at Harvard. His instructor insisted that a
copy be sent to Senator David I. Walsh, a member of the committee hearing
the bill. The Senator was so impressed with the thesis that he asked Hyman
to appear before the committee. Albert Hyman took the stand and described
how the little station was built and almost cried when he told the crowded
committee room that if the bill went through, they would have to close
down the station because they could not afford the license fees and all
the other requirements which the bill imposed on amateur stations.
Congressional debate began on the WIRELESS REGULATION BILL and the little
station "HAM" became the symbol for all the little amateur stations
in the country crying to be saved from the menace and greed of the big
commercial stations who didn't want them around. The bill finally got to
the floor of Congress and every speaker talked about the "...poor
little station HAM". That's how it all started.
You will find the whole story in the Congressional Record. Nationwide publicity
associated station "HAM" with amateur radio operators. From that
day to this, and probably to the end of time in radio, an amateur is a
"HAM".