In 1932, carpenter Ole Kirk Christiansen founded his company in Billund, Denmark with the purpose of encouraging imaginative play and ingenuity in children. The company began by manufacturing stepladders. However, the Great Depression forced him into an adaptable business model. He turned his attention to the manufacturing of toys and created one of the most popular brands.
Christiansen was a naive man who was quick to adopt new materials and techniques. In 1947, he became the first company to purchase an injection molding machine made of plastic in the world. This greatly increased the capabilities and selection of Lego products. The machine allowed him to experiment and create the Lego brick. The bricks had pegs on top and hollow bottoms that interlocked with each others, allowing children create intricate structures that are far greater than the ones that could be constructed with wooden blocks of previous generations.
The 1950s were a period of growth for hop over to this web-site the company. Kjeld Kirk Christiansen, Godtfred Kirk Christian’s daughter joined the management team and began modernizing the company’s manufacturing methods. The expansion included the launch a line dollhouses, furnishings and minifigures as individual pieces. In 1979, the company widened its product line to include sets with rockets and astronaut minifigures. They also introduced spaceships, lunar rovers and spaceships.
In 1990, the company launched three Model Team Sets that were designed for advanced builder. The sets contained small parts like axles, levers, gears, and other parts. They were the first Lego sets to provide a level of realism and precision.