Once upon a time we had magical sections of several HF bands. These were frequencies devoted to Novice Class licensees. Amateurs with higher license classes could and did work on the Novice bands, but Novice licensees couldn't transmit outside these select frequencies.
I say "magical" only in hindsight. At the time, these bands seemed more like gorilla warfare than anything else. New hams who were learning Morse code and the basics of radio operation often had poor signals, caused QRM, and exhibited poor "fists". I remember 40 meters in the mid-evenings could be a real jungle!
And yet, learning took place efficiently on the Novice bands. Part of the learning was because you tended to realize when you or the person at the other end screwed up (sometimes by smelling smoke from your finals!). Other times, learning occurred when seasoned hams came down to the lowly Novice bands and modeled good operation. Mostly, learning took place out of necessity -- because nobody wanted to remain a Novice Class operator any longer than necessary!
Those were fun times. I remember the utter magic when my first QSO as a Novice took place one evening on 40 meters between Wyoming and New York state. Wow that was exhilarating.
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