From film sets to toy stores, the walkie talkie is an invention everyone knows, but what was its initial purpose? Despite similar devices being developed by others around the same time, Donald Lewes Hings takes credit for inventing the first real walkie talkie in 1937. Hings developed this invention to assist communication between pilots. Soldiers later adopted the device because of its long-range, reliability and portability. Due to the device's utility, Hings' patent was kept secret by the Can