One of the world’s most popular toys is LEGO — small, colourful building blocks that you can put together to make amazing creations. But where did it all begin?
The oldest version of LEGO was very different from what we have today for many reasons.
It all started in 1932 with a woodworking business run by Ole Kirk Kristiansen during the Great Depression. The company began in Denmark and later expanded globally, reaching children and adults all over the world.
In 1934, the company was named LEGO. The name comes from the Danish phrase “leg godt,” which means “play well.”
In 1949, the company took a big step closer to modern-day LEGO by producing its first plastic bricks, known as “Automatic Binding Bricks.” The inspiration for these bricks came from a British designer named Hilary Page, who created Kiddicraft bricks.
Soon after, the company realised how successful these blocks could be and patented them (which means they made the design legally unique to their company). The essential part of the LEGO brick is the studs on top and the cylindrical tubes underneath, which connect the bricks together securely. This design made LEGO bricks strong and easy to build with — and only LEGO could produce them this way.
In the years that followed, LEGO achieved many great successes by targeting different audiences. They created LEGO Duplo for younger children, which features larger bricks that are easier and safer to use. They also experimented with smaller bricks for adults, although that was not as successful at first.
LEGO has also opened theme parks called LEGOLAND and expanded worldwide with stores and online shops.
LEGO has a great history and continues to grow and improve to this day. Building and playing with LEGO still brings great pleasure to people all around the world.
Thank you for reading!