When I got into ham radio in the late 1950s, the Conditional class amateur radio license was the same as General class except the exam was given by an experienced operator in lieu of personnel at an FCC office. In those days, amateur license exams were normally given in an FCC office, but if you lived over 75 miles (or was it 70) from the nearest office, you could take the General class exam given by a volunteer ham. The Advanced and Extra class license exams had to be taken at an FCC office.