In 1932, carpenter Ole Kirk Christiansen founded his company in Billund, Denmark with the goal of promoting inventive play and ingenuity among children. He started by making stepladders. However, the Great Depression forced him into a flexible business model. He turned his attention on the manufacturing of toys, and created one of the most adored brands.
Christiansen was a forward-thinking person who was quick to embrace new materials and technologies. In 1947, he was among the first company in the world to acquire an injection molding machine made of plastic that greatly expanded the options and capabilities of Lego https://lego-x.com/2019/10/30/today-lego-fan-tomorrow-it-architect-and-vdr-provider products. The machine let him experiment and to create the Lego brick. The bricks were hollow on the bottom and had pegs at the top. They interlocked to allow children to create intricate structures that were far more complex than those created with wooden blocks from earlier generations.
The 1950s were a time of growth for the company. Godtfred Kirk Christiansen’s daughter Kjeld Kirk Kristiansen joined the managerial staff and began to modernize the manufacturing process of the company. This expansion was accompanied by the launch of a line of dollhouses and furniture for girls, as well as the very first Minifigures, which are individual figurines. In 1979 the company expanded into space with sets presenting astronaut minifigures, rockets, lunar rovers and spaceships in addition to the medieval world with a castle theme.
In 1990, the company released three Model Team sets that were designed for advanced builders. These sets contained small pieces like axles, levers, gears, and other parts. They were the first Lego sets to provide the realism and precision.
