Ole Kirk Christiansen, a carpenter from Billund in Denmark founded his company in 1932, with the intention of encouraging imaginative play and imagination in children. He started by making stepladders. However the Great Depression forced him into an adaptable business model. He switched his focus on manufacturing toys, and in the process he developed one of the most adored brands in the history of the world.
Christiansen was a forward-thinking man who was quick to embrace new materials and technologies. In 1947, he became the first company to purchase an injection molding machine made of plastic in the world. This greatly increased the possibilities and variety of Lego products. The machine enabled him to play around with and develop the Lego brick. The bricks came with pegs at the top and hollow bottoms that were interlocked with each other, allowing children to build intricate structures that were far more complex than the capabilities of the wooden blocks of previous generations.
The 1950s were a time of expansion for the company. Godtfred Kirk Christiansen’s daughter Kjeld Kirk Kristiansen joined the management team, and she began to modernize the manufacturing process of the company. This expansion was accompanied by the launch of a dollhouse line and furnishings for girls, as well as the very first Minifigures as individual figures. In 1979 the company expanded into space by introducing sets of astronaut minifigures as well as rockets, lunar rovers and spaceships, as well as into medieval areas here are the findings with a Castle theme.
In 1990, the company launched three Model Team sets that were specifically designed for builders with advanced skills. These sets included small parts like gears, axles and levers, as well as a degree of realism and precision that was unheard of in the Lego series at the time.
