In 1847 Ma Bell gave birth to a baby Bell, Alexander Graham. Young Alex tried to get a job at Western Union but could not pass the test. He soon developed a hatred for Samuel F.B. Morse and telegraphy. Alex spent a good portion of his life trying to invent the Harmonic Telegraph so he could commmunicate without having to learn code.
Alex worked with a brilliant electronic equipment builder named Mr. Elmer Watson. Mr Watson tried to be patient but would lose his cool when Alex would often carelessly leave open the bottle of battery acid they were using. The neighborhood could often hear the shouts of "Lid!" as Elmer would remind Alex to close the bottle.
On March 10, 1876, Alexander Graham Bell once again forgot to put the lid on the bottle of battery acid and knocked it over, spilling it on the equipment. Alex quickly shouted, "Damn! Mr. Watson, come here. I want you!" Mr Watson, in another room, heard him over the equipment. IT WORKED!
After some time, Mr Watson entered the room and gave Alex some ham. Alex asked, "What's this?" Mr. Watson explained that he heard Alex say, "Ham, come here. I want you" over the equipment in the other room. Alex explained that he had said, "Damn" not "Ham."
From then on Alex would refer to Elmer as "Ham" and Elmer would refer to smart Alex as "Lid." They spent the rest of the year in different rooms saying, "Can you hear me now?" into their new telephone machine.
Hearing this phrase over and over again drove the neighbors crazy and a demand for government restrictions requiring a knowledge of telegraphy before using a phone.
So that is how Ham, Elmer, Lid, and the first code - no code debate started.
That's how I heard it anyway.
Best 73's (I'll tell you how that got invented another day)
Mike ZooLoo
Oh...and do you know who Alexander Graham Kowalski was?
Why, of course, he was the first telephone Pole!!!
