(j3.2006) Origin of the term "String"

[Van Snyder]

A correspondent asked me the question below.  I don't have an answer.
Do you?

Van

================================================================================

The first use of the word STRING to mean a sequence of characters in a 
programming language that I have been able to find was the Algol 60 Report, but 
it doesn't say anything about why strings are called strings.

I suspect that there was an earlier usage, and it might have been at IBM. And 
perhaps the adoption of string was coincident with the adoption of concatenate 
for joining strings together.

Do you know anything about this?