Recently here at the office we were talking about the development of two way radios, and how they used to always be called Walkie Talkies. I mentioned that the correct term was Handie-Talkie from radios used in World War 2. I thought it would be fun to blog a bit on what we turned up as we talked about this (though I know a lot of you probably know all about their history and development!)

The first two way radios were called Walkie-Talkies and were made by Gavin Manufacturing Company (They later became Motorola) in 1940. They were backpack radios made for the allied forces in World War 2. Also, Alfred J.Gross developed a lot of the same ideas in 1934 through 1941, and created a small two way radio for the U.S. Office of Strategic Services. Another inventor working in radios at the same time named Donald Hings developed several portable two way radios he called packsets.

What most people would call a Walkie Talkie was developed at about the same time as its larger backpack cousin. They were portable, handheld units called Handie-Talkies. Motorola eventually trademarked Handie-Talkie and "HT". This is where the term "HT" for portable radios came from.

After the war, surplus radios made their way into the civilian market. The common civilian term for hand held two way radios term changed to Walkie Talkie. Check back in a few days for another look at the development and history of the Walkie-Talkie!

(Updated 6/24: Read the rest of the article on the development of the walkie-talkie!)