The History of Lego

By: Jenny Talorman
Submitted: 2009-09-23 16:33:40
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LEGO is well known across the world and allows for young children to use their creativity and imaginations to build just about anything. These bright, colourful pieces have no limits and encourage the use of fine motor skills. But just like any toy, LEGO has a rich history that has brought them to the point of widely recognized success.

In 1916, Ole Kirk Christiansen was a carpenter that made houses and furniture for local farmers. Unfortunately in 1924, the workshop burned down due to a fire caused by Christiansen's two small children. Taking this as an opportunity to better his business, Christiansen rebuilt the workshop in a bigger and more productive place. During the Great Depression, he made stepladders and ironing boards, which soon gave him the inspiration to begin making toys. Some of Christiansen's early toys included cars, trucks and wooden pull toys.

In 1934, the word LEGO was coined from the words leg godt, meaning 'play well'. It was then that Christiansen began producing the small, interlocking bricks, similar as we know them today. These were named Automatic Binding Bricks and were based off of samples of interlocking bricks from another toy company.

Although a creative idea, Automatic Binding Bricks were not favoured by children, and were often returned because of their lack to stay connected together.

In 1947, the factory then purchased a plastic moulding machine to focus on making plastic toys. At this point in time, wooden toys were more widely produced, putting Christiansen one step ahead of his competition. In the early 1950's, Christiansen's son, Godtfred Kirk Christiansen, became the Junior Vice President of the factory. His strong dedication helped to make plastic toys even more successful and popular. In fact, by 1951, plastic toys were half of the requested orders, making wooden toys second.

It was then in 1958 that the modern day LEGO design was created. Hollow tubes were made to go underneath the bricks, creating the LEGO toys to interlock with one another and stay put. LEGO toys were quickly more favoured as they were more stable to build with. As these positive changes were made, Ole Kirk Christiansen died, leaving his son to be the head of the factory. Shortly after, the original wooden toy warehouse was destroyed in a fire, leaving the factory to focus solely on the production of plastic toys.

In 1963, ABS plastic was added to the LEGO toys in place of cellulose acetate. ABS plastic made the toys stronger and held on to the rich colours that the toys are so often known for. These new LEGO toys were made safer as well because ABS plastic is non-toxic.

In 1967, DUPLO was introduced to the market, which are larger version of LEGO toys made for children 5 and under. Lego has continued to grow to be an empire, well-known and loved across the world. The introduction of Legoland Parks have reached across the world as well, giving people of all ages the opportunity to build and create whatever their imagination allows them to.

Article source: Expert Articles