Ole Kirk ChristiansenOle Kirk Christiansen was born

on April 7 1891 in the village of Filskov, Denmark. He was one of 10 children of Jens Niels Christiansen and Kirstine (Andersen) Christiansen. He began tending his family's sheep in the fields at the age of six, and to pass the time during the long hours outside, he carved small wooden figures. Later, he trained under his older brother, Kristian Bonde Christiansen, to become a carpenter. Around 1916, he bought the Billund Woodworking and Carpentry Shop, and had several profitable years as a local home builder in the village of Billund, also in Jutland; during the slower winter months he made custom furniture. Along the way, he married and became the father to four sons.

The Great Depression did not impact Denmark's largely agricultural economy immediately when it began in 1929, but by 1931 a flattened market brought a subsequent slowdown in Christiansen's home-building and furnituremaking business. He was also a widower by that point, and to make ends meet he began crafting more practical items in his woodshop. These included stepladders, stools for milking cows, and ironing boards, along with a few wooden toys that were made primarily from wood scraps. The yo-yos, cars, and animals he carved out of wood proved such a hit that he came up with a brand name around 1934 for them. Taking the Danish phrase leg godt, or “play well” he called the line LEGO.

The LEGO Development

After World War II, Christiansen became intrigued by the possibilities offered by a relatively new material, plastic. In 1947, he acquired one of the first plastic injectionmolding machines in Denmark to make a new series of toys, such as a rattle shaped like a fish. His sons, now grown and working with him, cautioned that the new space-age material was too expensive and the possibilities too limited, but they were proven wrong over the next few years. In 1949, Christiansen introduced the first LEGO Automatic Binding Bricks, which in 1953 was shortened to just LEGO Bricks. When he visited a toy fair in England in 1954, one toy buyer for a retail chain told him there was no “system” in the world of toys, and this gave Christiansen the idea to create a series of LEGO items that could be purchased separately, but used with one another.

The LEGO Development Cont.

Patent for Brick DesignChristiansen’s son, Godtfred Kirk

Christiansen, had begun working alongside his father in 1942. In 1950, he was named Junior Vice President of the company. It was he who conceived of the idea of developing Lego blocks into a total “system of play.” By 1953, LEGO started marketing complete plastic block sets and in 1954, they obtained a trademark for the product, which they renamed "LEGO Mursten" or "LEGO Bricks."

The company officially launched the “LEGO System of Play” in 1955, which comprised 28 different sets and eight toy vehicles. LEGO patented the bricks’ “stud-and-tube coupling system” in 1958. That year, founder Christiansen died. His son Godtfred immediately took the LEGO helm.

Brick Design Cont.Legos continued to gain

popularity, with more themed toy sets and building-block variations added all the time. The first LEGO sets were sold in the United States in 1961. By 1966, offerings included bricks that could form all sorts of buildings, vehicles and backdrops. A larger version of the blocks, DUPLO, was added in 1967, designed for younger children and toddlers. In 1977, LEGO introduced TECHNIC projects for older kids and teens. Over the years the company added all sorts of themed Lego sets, even robotic building sets branded LEGO Mindstorms, model vehicle kits and computer games.

LEGO Land

LEGO opened a series of theme parks based on the Lego toy concept, the first in Billund in 1968. Others opened in Windsor, England in 1996 and in Carlsbad, California in 1999. Most recently, a fourth park opened in 2002 in Gunzburg, Germany. The parks continue to be immensely popular with people of all ages, especially parents and their children.

Ole’s grandson, Kjeld Kirk Kristiansen, later became CEO of the company and maintained that position until October 2004 when he was replaced by the company’s first non-family chief executive. LEGO has been a pioneer in using its products to advance research in learning and play. Initiatives include the LEGO Learning Institute, the LEGO Educational Division, collaboration with MIT’s Media Lab, and LEGO Serious Play, a product designed to help business owners to develop innovative strategies and solutions. The company has sold Lego toys in 130 countries, with sales totaling more than $1.5 billion.

LEGOs

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