Ole Kirk Christiansen, who founded his workshop in Billund in Denmark in 1932, produced wooden toys and furniture. The business was not very profitable and he struggled to make ends meet in the first 30 years. In 1934, he shifted to focus on toys, and changed the name of the company to LEGO. It’s a contraction of « leg godt », the Danish word that means « play well ».
The company grew into other Nordic countries in the 1960s. The company created a smaller model, perfect for hands with small hands. It was named DUPLO (after the Latin word duplex which means twofold). This allowed young children to build more intricate models.
In the 1970s Lego began to introduce new features to make its products stand out from other brands. They added different faces to the miniature figures. This made the minifigures appear more real and allowed them to display different facial expressions and emotions. The Lego Group added wheels to their bricks, which allowed the creation of vehicles and other machines.
The next big step of the company was when it launched dedicated themes — systems within systems that allowed customers to create a specific world or situation. This helped the company increase its brand’s recognition and helped them appeal to an increasingly younger audience. In addition, the company increased production, opening factories in South Korea, Malaysia, and Brazil.
why play with lego