INFORMATION VINE * The History of Legos *

Photo Courtesy: [Alan Chia/Wikimedia Commons]
Lego has become one of the most recognizable brands in the world. They have done it all from toys to films to video games. However, most don't know that the brand started off as a modest wood toy company, and over the years built the globally recognized brand we know today. Scroll through this gallery and find out all about the History of Legos. 

Where it Began

In 1932, Kirk Christiansen Ole, who was a carpenter and inventor, began crafting toys with wood at his small shop located in Billund, Denmark. This is when his company was created, with his 12-year-old son Godtfred Kirk as his assistant. Christiansen would make ironing boards, stepladders, and most importantly toys. 



Photo Courtesy: [Unknown author/Wikimedia Commons]


Within two years, he named his Danish company Lego; where Danish words “Leg” and “Godt” translated to “play well” in English. The company started with seven employees and the motto Christiansen carried with him from the very beginning was “Only the best is worthy” (Der bedste er ikke for godt). 

In the midst of the Great Depression 

One of the setbacks that could’ve stopped Ole from putting his vision forward was that toys were not as profitable during the Great Depression. People invested less money on toys and more on “necessities.” However, Ole kept on, and Farmers even traded some of their food for a couple of Ole’s wooden toys. 



Photo Courtesy: [XuliánConX/Wikimedia Commons]


Ole also kept producing furniture to keep the business running. When the yo-yo toy peaked in the mid-1930s, business triumphed and once again it declined. However, Ole used the leftover parts of the yo-yo for the wheels of his toy trucks. 

Before the Company

Christiansen had opened his first woodworking shop way before the 1930s. He had started out back in 1916, during the times where there was no electricity, but the man had a deep yearning to create and explore his carpentry skills that he was definitely not going to wait for electricity to come to him, but rather he was going to call it forth through taking his first steps towards his vision. 



Photo Courtesy: [Matthew Hocker/Flickr]


At this time, he was producing more ladders and stools than toys, when his sons accidentally set the shop on fire in 1924, but Christiansen didn’t give up and set out to build an even bigger building for even bigger visions. 

Plastic Machine

It was Ole Kirk Christiansen's son Godtfred that began designing wooden toys in 1937, and from there he became his father’s number one assistant, at just the age of twelve. In order to keep up with the company’s growth, Christiansen decided to switch from wooden toys to plastic. 



Photo Courtesy: [Gistok/Flickr]


In 1946, Lego bought the first plastic injection-molding machine from Great Britain, that produced toys at a larger scale. He experimented with the machine a year prior to use it on selling goods. Within two years, the company was running faster and producing over 200 different kinds of toys such as automatic binding bricks, plastic fish, and a sailor. 

Company Growth

Godtfred continued to maintain a major role in the company since his youth; he even dropped his plans to attend college in Germany to stay with the family business. When Godtfred got assigned as the Junior Vice President of Lego in 1950, he dedicated even more time to make the company even better. 



Photo Courtesy: [Chlor/Wikimedia Commons]


In 1954, a purchasing agent shared with Godtfred that the Lego toys didn’t have a system that promised evolution. He said the toys “lacked idea” and this is what propelled Godtfred to launch the Lego System of Play, which meant that every single block (even from the past) would be able to interlock with one another and provide players designs that they could build to (such as towns or homes). 

More than Bricks

Lego not only has the famous brick toys that inspire imagination, but the company also carries thousands of other items with their name on them. These days, you can find home decor items such as ornaments, picture frames, mugs, helmets, keychains, and more. 



Photo Courtesy: [Lego/YouTube]


The company also makes tires and they’re known to be the top tire manufacturer. If that wasn’t enough, Lego is also known to be one of the top toy companies which are affecting the environment greatly with the mass production of plastic, but we will get to that in a bit. 

The first were made out of wood

The first Legos were made out of wood, of course, by the carpenter Ole Kirk. However, it would come to show that after the first shop burned down, that it wasn’t the best material. 



Photo Courtesy: [BrickTsar/Youtube]


Plus, the first bricks were not like the modern ones that bound together in a tight-fitting way, so they weren’t much of a drawback in those times, especially when Denmark was the only region where Legos were being sold. So, Ole pursued a world of plastic Legos, which would be much easier, faster, and “innovative.” 

Bilofix Company

When another fire hit the Lego Group headquarters in Denmark in 1960, most of the company’s wooden toys vanished. Godtferd decided to focus on the plastic line and let go of the wooden toys for good. 



Photo Courtesy: [Vunzmstr/Wikimedia Commons]


Two of the four brothers, Gerhardt and Karl Georg decided to branch out and keep the wooden toys running, Lego marketed all of its other non-brick toys under the Bilofix brand. Gerhardt and Karl developed the company’s headquarters in 1962 in Denmark, and most of its products were being sold in Italy, the UK, and Germany. 

Creativity

At the beginning of the 1950s, Lego started to incorporate distinct models for their brick toys, so that kids could challenge themselves more creatively while playing with Legos. One of the fascinating additions to the bricks were the vehicle models that allowed the player to assemble them for themselves or build one to their liking. 



Photo Courtesy: [Brickset/Flickr]


In 1951, the company launched their baseplate with a 20 by 10 stud grid where the players could begin to build from. When the “system of play” launched in 1955, this gave the players the opportunity to build their own town or other designs made available. 

Patented the stud-and-tube System 

In order for their invention to be solidified and not stolen, the Lego company patented their stud-and-tube interlocking system in 1958. This system helped their famous bricks improve their models by allowing the bricks to interlock with one another and come apart easily like a puzzle. 



Photo Courtesy: [Arto Alanenpää/Wikimedia Commons]


The stud-and-tube system set the quality of the company and for the products that followed. However, the patent did expire in some countries and the company sought other methods to protect their inventions despite numerous courts’ disagreements. 

To North America

Lego was thriving in the European region for the most part, but the word was out, and the toys were becoming more popular. The company was ready to send mass production to North America, but the company did not have the logistics and formulated plans in place. 



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The Lego company partnered with the Samsonite brand to produce the first Lego products in the U.S. and Canada. Over time, the company expanded its market and its factories across the globe; the first North American facility being in Enfield, Connecticut around 1974. 

The first Legoland Park

In 1968, the famous interlocking bricks company opened its first Legoland park in Denmark. There were 3,000 visitors on the very first day and over 625,000 visitors total in their first year. It was the only Legoland for three decades until international parks began to open up in England, California, and Germany. 



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The park featured cities, L-shaped towns, roller coasters, go-karts, and more rides. The company no longer owns its own theme parks, they were sold to a management group in order to restructure and redistribute the company better. 

Duplo

Lego Duplo bricks were launched in 1969. The first logo was a green-colored one until the red logo took its place in 1971. Duplo bricks are built larger and thicker and they can also be used with the Lego bricks and vice versa; the Duplo have to have hollow studs in order for the classic bricks to fit. 



Photo Courtesy: [M W/Pixabay]


Only the Minifigures of Duplo are not compatible with the Classic bricks, and Classic Minifigures cannot be used with the Duplo bricks either. The Duplo bricks were intended for the younger builders; built bigger so that they could be safer for the toddlers to play with. By 1983, the Duplo system introduced baby rattles and “human-like” figures. 

Lego for Adults

The original intent of Lego was to get kids involved in building. Over time, Lego would come to build bricks geared towards both kids and adults. The amazing thing is that with the different themes that Lego releases almost every single TV show or movie hit, it attracts a wide range of builders. 



Photo Courtesy: [LEGO Masters/Hulu]


For the youth, Lego inspires imagination, fun, and “play pretend,” whereas for adults, building with Legos and actually finishing the project brings a sense of satisfaction which they might have lost in their real day-to-day lives. Legos have become a way to “tune out” from the busy adult life and to distract oneself from the chaos in the world. The adult fans even have a name: AFOL (Adult Fans of Lego) and there’s also a show called “LEGO Masters” on Fox where adults compete with one another building their kits. 

To Free the Mind

Some people thought it was nonsense that adults were beginning to demand Lego kits for themselves when they were supposed to watch their own kids play and of course prevent them from choking. However, the Lego company knew the demand was too big to ignore and so they gave consumers what they wanted. 



Photo Courtesy: [Brickset/Flickr]


Apparently, older people find it very satisfying to have instructions and follow guidelines, and the simple steps provided in each Lego kit achieve just that. Older people find it even meditative to just play with a few bricks, clicking them together and apart over and over again, nice job right there Lego. The company has created kits from the sitcom Friends and movies such as Harry Potter and Star Wars. 

Legos Construction

The newer LEGOs are built out of plastic and rubber, not at all environment-friendly. They get their large quantities of plastic from Saudi Arabia, Thailand, and Kuwait. The plastic is first sent to the Denmark headquarters before being distributed to the other facilities around the globe. 



Photo Courtesy: [Sariel's Bricks & Pets/Youtube]


Bricks are built in large groups of 500 per second; they then are painted, packaged, and then sent to Prague, the number one distribution center. The entire process takes about ten days, including the building of the bricks. 

For Girls

Growing rapidly, in 1971, the Lego company sought to make something specifically geared towards girls. The Lego market had more boy consumers than girls, so the company was kind of enough to extend to girl builders and fashionistas. 



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What other way to win a girl’s heart but with dolls and houses! Yes, dollhouses and girly furniture pieces were introduced to the market and within a year, boat and ship sets were introduced. Later in 1979, they introduced jewelry and dressing elements in the market with the Scala series, once again gearing towards young girls. It was a temporary season from 1979 through 1980 and back again in 1997 through 2001. 

Tire Manufacturer

Lego did become the largest tire manufacturer in the world producing over 381 million tires a year, but not the kind of tires used on real cars, but rather those tiny ones used on their brick-toys. In 1962, the company launched the Lego wheel which would fit the 2x4 blocks. These wheels replaced the non-Lego cars in an instant. 



Photo Courtesy: [David Luders/Flickr]


Knud Moller created the first design ever of the Lego wheel. He gathered a metal shaft, a hub, and a rubber tire that would interlock on the 2x4 bricks. Godtfred liked the idea and set the production in motion. Over the years, the company continued to improve the development of the wheels. 

You can be part of a new Lego production 

Imagine if you could create your own phenomenal design to be built and distributed by the Lego company? Well, you can, but it is not all easy-peasy. The Lego company welcomes the public’s ideas on new kits and sets via their Lego Ideas website. 



Photo Courtesy: [Ashnflash/YouTube]


It requires a lot of will, a clear concept, and determination. The goal is to get 10,000 supporters for your design to receive an expert review and then be considered to become a true Lego Design. The Lego Ideas website also features games and contests for you to take part in. 

Lego Minifigures

Before the 1970s, Lego featured cities, towns, cars, and landscapes but no characters to actually experience these. In 1974, Lego Minifigures were introduced by Lego Group designer Jens Nygaard Knudsen. The Minifigures were nothing out of the ordinary, but somehow the three yellow-colored pieces stacked together with no facial expressions sent a whole wave of consumers to the stores. 



Photo Courtesy: [Beyond the Brick/YouTube]


The only distinction between the first Minifigures was the hats they wore, but they became the top action figures in history. Their hands were built to grab any Lego accessory, and their feet could grasp onto the bricks. 

Expert Series

After some time doing the same thing over and over, one requires another set mark or challenge to be able to grow and expand their skill sets. 



Photo Courtesy: [Lego Expert Set/YouTube]


That is exactly what the Lego company did in 1975, introducing their “Expert Series” aimed at the experienced Lego builders with multiple features like gears, axels, racks, pinion steering, and engine-like movements. The Expert sets were more attractive to those that had already experienced the classic sets to an extent. 

The First Minifigure

The first Minifigure introduced in a Lego set was a police officer in the Lego Set 600. His face featured a plastered smile and he carried a police car as an accessory. Of course, this first Minifigure was just the beginning; it led to the more complex and developed minifigs we see today. 



Photo Courtesy: [just2good/YouTube]


After a whole decade of simple minifigs, the Lego Pirates were introduced in 1989 with a whole new look; eye patches, pirate hooks instead of hands, and wooden pegs on the legs, beards, and no more smiley faces. Both the Lego sets and Minifigures began to expand at this time with new sets like the Castle, Space, and Ghost sets in the 1990s. 

Real People Figurines

After the good ol’ fiction Lego figurines, the company decided to start building figurines of real people in 2003. The first ones were NBA players like Kobe Bryant and Dirk Nowitzki. 



Photo Courtesy: [Willis Lam/Flickr]


The real-life figurines were made with real-life skin color (not just yellow), facial expressions, customized hair, and any other personalized features. Lego Minifigures could make up over half of the human population, there are over 4 billion minifigs, and what a bummer approximately 86% are male. It’s a man’s world in the Lego society. 

Licensed Minifigures

In 1999, the company sought to license its first Minifigures like Luke Skywalker from the Star Wars franchise. Prior to the real-life minifigs, the Lego figs were quite ordinary and simple with no creative expression. The Lego company set a plan to create Minifigures with a lot more expression, features, and creativity. 



Photo Courtesy: [Brickset/Flickr]


By 2003, in order to keep up with the growth in the toy market, the Minifigures were made more visually appealing with a lot more interactive features. They were later introduced in TV shows and video games as well. With the licensing though, the Minifigures’ prices did rise, and it wasn’t the best move for a company on its decline. 

Collecting Minifigures

By 2010, the Lego Minifigures gave rise to the Minifigure collectors. The Lego Minifigures line was a series of individually released minifigs, they wouldn’t come in a set altogether, so this brought people to invest in the minifigs themselves without having to purchase the whole packaged deal with more Lego bricks than desired. 



Photo Courtesy: [LEGOParadise/YouTube]


Imagine how many unwanted Lego bricks would the builder have if they were to purchase a whole packaged set every time a Minifigure was introduced to the market? A lot, and that wouldn’t have been good on the company’s revenue. Both kids and adults took an interest in collecting the charming mini action figures despite some being worth $200. 

Partnership with MIT

In 1984, Lego partnered up with MIT Media Lab (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) for the purpose of developing, researching, and contributing new technologies to Lego toys. This partnership also led to exploring the connection with technology and children, the advancement and learning evolution via tech. 



Photo Courtesy: [Diego Baca/YouTube]


Lego had been sponsoring the lab since 1985. By 1988, Lego had introduced its first Media Lab collaboration product. The Lego TC Logo introduced a method to control the behavior of the construction of the Lego bricks via a cable that would trigger a computer. This first product was only presented to schools. 

1998 Lego Mindstorms

Lego Mindstorms was introduced in 1998, aimed at kids from 10 and up. Mindstorms consisted of a set of five robots for the builder to construct to their liking. This invention was a collaboration brought by Lego and the MIT Media Lab. 



Photo Courtesy: [Eirik Refsdal/Wikimedia Commons]


This technology was the first programmable brick with a tiny portable computer that was attached inside the Lego bricks in order to interact via sensors with the physical world. This system was a step up from the simple interlocking bricks to a more advanced and learning tool for children. 

Full-size home made out of Lego

With Lego bricks, many fantasize about what they could build without actually building anything, solely having fun with the ideas, but one man fantasized and actualized his idea, a full-sized house made out of Lego bricks. 



Photo Courtesy: [Peter Trimming/Wikimedia Commons]


In 2009, James May, a TV presenter set out to build a 3.3 million Lego brick house with a toilet and shower as well, and yes, they were made out of Lego pieces. The craziest thing is that this house was a fully functioning abode with all amenities you could think of, with furniture and bed settings. 

The Largest Lego Set

One of the largest Lego sets was the Taj Mahal, until 2017 when a new version of the set was introduced. The new version Taj Mahal Lego set was launched containing about 5,923 pieces. Some people may not be used to an all-white Lego set but this is one of those and perhaps the only one. 



Photo Courtesy: [Assembled/YouTube]


It takes a few hours to get the job done, so this is definitely for those who want to tune out and tune into the Lego world. The original set costs over $300 and to be honest, people do invest in these crazy-priced Lego sets. 

Lego Materials

The Lego company claims that their plastic is a high-quality one called ABS, yet it is plastic that does not decompose (ever!), and it is not environmentally friendly nor is it healthy to have around. The material that creates the shiny colored bricks and the strong grip is ABS plastic, but you might want to reconsider whether this is beneficial in the long run. 



Photo Courtesy: [Victuallers/Wikimedia Commons]


In 2018, they tried to incorporate a plant-based plastic for the botanical leaves and trees used on their sets. They’ve claimed that by 2030, they will be using sustainable materials on all of their products, from the molding to the packaging. 

Not for War

From the very beginning, Ole Kirk Christiansen, founder of Lego, wanted the toys to be far away from criminal and war representations. With children spending over 5 billion hours a year playing with Legos, he did not like the idea of making violence attractive to children and set out to make Lego sets with the prime focus on fun. 



Photo Courtesy: [Hasan Kabalak/Flickr]


The mental health of the children was the most important, and Legos was a way to engage the kids and challenge their creativity. For this reason, Lego sets were never focused on war, that is until Star Wars, Harry Potter, and other sets like the Pirates were introduced. 

The Lego Movies

Just as any other phenomenal idea, story, novel, or person, Lego made it into the film industry. Its first movie The Lego Movie was released in 2014. It was a comedy movie created by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller where the Lego characters appeared as if they were toys that children had been playing with, with scuff marks and scratches. 



Photo Courtesy: [Bill Toenjes/Flickr]

The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part was released in 2019 by Warner Bros. Animation. When the idea of the first film was introduced to the Danish corporation in Denmark, many were skeptical as they thought their company was just fine without a movie to attract builders, but the idea moved forward, and the storyline was created over a period of seven years and it turned out to be a huge hit regardless how famous the toys were without a film. 

The first double-sided head figure 

No Lego Minifigure was ever made with a two-sided face, only with different emotions, until Professor Quirrel in the Harry Potter Lego set. It makes sense because the actual character does have two faces, and though people would have accepted only one face, it would have been absolutely disappointing. 



Photo Courtesy: [Pedro Vezini/Flickr]


One side of its head is the human “good side” and the other is the “evil” side. Then there was another Minifigure of a mummy where one side was asleep and the other awake. 

Child Safety First

National Toy Hall of Fame

Lego Artist

The Decline of Lego Begins

Inviting war into the Lego World

A Comeback

New Lines

The Supply Chain

Transportation Shifts

Lego Friends

Lego Life

Mental Health

Begone Social Media

Two World Records

Lego Boost

Their Highest Season

From Simple to Iconic