LEGO
A Brick'story
How many of you grow
up playing with those little plastic coloured building blocks that sparked a
generation of creativeness from cars to spaceships and many other weird and
wonderful things from a Child's imagination. If you played with Lego then you were
certainly not alone. Fast forward to now and it's hard to believe Lego is still
as popular now as it was back in 1932. My earliest memory of Lego was probably
the very early 1980's I can't remember how I got into it or why for that matter
although I do remember it being Lego City sets I thought but writing this
article has alerted me to a familiar little Lego man that I certainly owned and
he was a n all red spaceman often accompanied by his mate the all blue
spaceman, I also remember it being a massive part of my childhood especially
Christmas as I was always guaranteed to get a set of some sort. There was a
program recently about the secret life of Lego and after watching this it got
me interested in learning more about Lego especially as it's something I have
introduced to my own son as he's grow older and spend many a weekend building
his Lego much to my enjoyment more than his in fact am one of the dads who hates it when the kids play with
something that you have just painstakingly made including the usual rant about
there being a key piece missing although there never is and you've normally
tried to build it without the instructions or is that just me, I suspect
not.
The LEGO Group was
founded in Billund Denmark in 1932 by Ole Kirk Kristiansen. The company has
passed from father to son and is now owned by Kjeld Kirk Kristiansen, a
grandchild of the founder. Lego is in fact an abbreviation of two Danish words
"leg godt" meaning play well. In the 80 plus years since its creation
it's come a very long way from the humble carpenters work shop to the hugely
high tech plastic mouldings factories of today. Lego is one of the worlds most
manufactured toys and has twice won the prestigious "Toy of century"
award. Lego never started out as the building brick we know now though when the
the company started out it making wooden toys one of these being a wooden duck!
In 1942 a fire destroys the Lego factory but it isn't long before the wooden
toys are being manufactured again and in 1946 another milestone year for the
company as they are the first in Denmark to buy a plastic injection-molding
machine for toy production. The machine costs DKK 30,000. By comparison, the
revenue of the firm this year is DKK 450,000. By the late 1940's Lego is
product about 200 different plastic and wooden toys one being the Automatic
Binding Bricks Which is sold in Denmark exclusively and is a forerunner of the
LEGO bricks we know today. In 1950 at the tender of 30 Godtfred Kirk Christiansen
is appointed Vice President. The automatic binding bricks is renamed "Lego
mursten" in 1953 which is translated "Lego bricks" Lego is
printed inside each brick and on 1st May 1954 Lego is Danish registered
trademark soon after on a trip to England Godtfred meets a purchasing agent who
thinks the toys lack a system and ideas this gets Godtfred into thinking and
spawns The Lego system idea which consists of 28 sets plus supplementary
vehicles, systems of play also saw the company look into the sport market and
Lego took the products to a toy fair in Nuremberg Germany but the products
received a negative reaction much to the companies disappointment but in1956
the first foreign sales company was opened Howenwestedt Germany under the
trading name "Lego speilwaren GmbH" also in 56 saw the introduction
of little plastic motorcyclist and bicyclists. 1952 sees the companies 25
anniversary and also proves a milestones year as Lego's interlocking principle
is created and Godtfred Kirk Christiansen is appointed managing director. 1958
proved another big year for the Danish toy makers when they patient the stud
and tube coupling system that is still used today to stabilise models 1958 is a
sad year as Ole Kirk Kristiansen passes away leaving Godtfred as head of the company.
Lego France, British Lego Ltd, Lego Belgium and Lego Sweden are all formed in
1959. The company now employs 450 people this year also saw another fire
devastate Lego when the wooden toy warehouse is destroyed the company decides
to discontinue making wooden toys forever although Lego branches out more into
two European country's establishing Lego Finland & Lego Netherland. Sales
start in America and Canada by the beginning of the1960's which is great for
the company as Lego sets increase to 50 plus 15 vehicles And loose elements, Lego also sees its
workers first strike. Lego expands again in 62 with the opening of Lego
Australia and sees sales in the Far East in Singapore, Hong Kong, Morocco,
Australia and Japan Lego also appoints its first personnel manager in the hope
of preventing further strikes. The town of Billund also grows with Lego and in
1963 the towns airport opens mainly because of Lego, 63 also sees Lego expand
by creating a procurement department , in this year Lego is also manufactured
into ABS plastic
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Early Memories
Lego expands again this time in Austria and see's interlego AG in Switzerland but back in Denmark Godtfred Kirk Christensen launches the company’s 10 point product characteristics
1. Unlimited play potential 2. For girls and boys 3. Fun for every age 4. Year round play 5. Healthy quiet play 6. Long hours of play 7. Development, imagination and creativity 8. The more Lego, the greater the value 9. Extra sets available 10. Quality in every detail In 1964 Lego opens a plant in howenwehnstedt Germany, building instructions are also introduced to sets in this year to help builder complete the sets although this did take away slightly the imagination factor. Lego now employs 600 people in Billund Denmark by 1965 and Lego also launches a battery powered train set. 1968 see's the opening of LEGOLAND Billund and in the first year 625,000 visitors with 3000 of them on the opening day 7th July. As the 1960's ends Lego now launches Duplo a range of building toys designed for the under 5's market and as the decade ends Billund now employs 843 people. Lego's expansion sees the opening of a new mouldings factory in Højmarksvej Denmark and its Billund site now employs a staggering 1000 people. Lego replaces its various logo's in 73 and replaces it with a simple Lego logo enabling the company to unify all its products under the single Lego logo it also sees the opening of a new LEGOLAND Sierkersdorf theme park near Lübeck, Germany. In 1974 the original LEGOLAND in Billund welcomes its 5 millionth visitor largely down to its new Mount Rushmore replica. Lego announces in 1975 that the English language will be its main corporate language for its 2500 worldwide employees. Things aren't totally rosy for Lego and in 1976 LEGOLAND Sierkersdorf closes 3 years after opening apparently due to Lego not believing that the German owners followed the same ideas as the Danes although the park did reopen as Hansa-park and included modified versions of some of the original rides. Kjeld Kirk Kristiansen joins the Lego management team in 1977 becoming the third generation to join the Lego group and it doesn't take him long to help reshape the company's future when he launches "system within a system" splitting the models production into product ranges and lines and is one of the reasons that Kjeld is appointed chief executive of INTERLEGO A/S in 1979. By 1980 a survey reveals that 70% of all western families with a child under the age of 14 own Lego! Expansion is on the cards and in 1981 Lego opens a new plant opens in Baar Switzerland. Lego's 50th anniversary in 1982 in celebrated in a book entitled "50 years of play" it also sees the Lego fiction department created. Lego continues to grow at a frightening rate and by 1983 the brand employs 3700 people worldwide. Lego teams up with McDonald's during 84 but only in the USA and Canada for a co-promotion but Lego also has to lunch a law suit against TYCO BRICK leading to copy rite infringements in various different countries. Billund now employs 3000 staff and with another 2000 worldwide Lego is becoming a truly massive brand in 1985 |
Lego also creates the Lego prize an annual prize of 750,000 DKK. Lego gets a regal title in 1986 when queen Margerethe of Denmark names Lego as “purveyor to her majesty the queen" but see's Godtfred retire and Kjeld take over. Lego fictions changed its name to Lego publishing too. The Lego brick logo as we now know it was created in 1987 as Lego employees in the world reaches almost 6000 but there are negatives too when the South Africa office is closed proving that Lego isn't a total worldwide success just yet. The following year Lego open the Kornmarken factory in Billund and is the largest molding and production factory opened in 1988 and in 2012 Lego gave all its Billund employees a Lego model of the Kornmarken factory that was never released elsewhere this giving the employees a piece of Lego history I recently found one of these sets on eBay for $599.99. The Kornmarken plant is a massive half a kilometre long, the site that processes 60 tonnes of raw plastic granulate every 24 hours which is fed to the molding machines from silos using a labyrinth of tubes that push the granulate mixtures in a permanent tin-pitched rumble that works around the clock 24hrs a day to supply the world with Lego bricks in fact 2 million pieces are made every hour! The site also houses a vault that contains one of every Lego set ever made. Back To 1988 and Billund now holds the Lego World Cup.
Lego enters the top 10 toy manufactures in the world in 1990 and also being the only European company in a table dominated by American and Japanese toy firms proves that the brand is gaining even more strength in a tough market. Forward to 1994 and Lego now employs 8880 staff worldwide and has broken two world records the world’s largest Lego castle measuring 4.45m x 5.22m live on Swedish television, they also broke a record for the largest railway set that is 545m and contains 3 locomotives. Both records were set in 92. In 1995 Lego mourns the loss of Godtfred Kirk Christiansen at the age of 74. Meanwhile in Latvia and Lithuania there are now weekly Lego TV shows and in 1996 lego.com is launched following the new multimedia revolution that's overtaking the world also this year LEGOLAND Windsor opens and SPU Darwin is created that focuses on software that features Lego like the successful Lego games. The new Lego logo and the phrase "Just imagine" is rolled out in 1998 which is aimed as a reaction to the companies first ever trading year with a deficit the group opens a new park in California the following year 99 and in that year the Lego block is named "one of the products of the century" by Forbes magazine, Lego opens a Lego only store in the Blue water shopping Centre Dartford but the company also restructures and the company makes 1000 people redundant as a result. The new century begins well for the Lego group as the British Association of Toy retailers names the Lego brick as "Toy of the century" and Lego signs the deal with Warner brothers that see's Lego produce a Harry Potter range. Lego's "just imagine" slogan has failed to live up to itself and is replaced with the more catchy "Play on" in 2002 and the Duplo brand is also renamed Lego Explore. On 2004 as the brand is still fighting against deficits it acknowledges that the Duplo name was popular so it is reintroduced and Jørgen Vig Knudstorp as new CEO of the company although the year ends with another deficit. The Lego group decides to sell all the LEGOLAND parks to the Merlin entertainment group by the company does buy a stake in Merlin. 2006 the Lego group announced plans to outsource production and shuts its plant in Willisau Switzerland. Lego's 75th anniversary year in 2007 see's the company also enter into a licensing agreement with Lucas film the iconic Lego millennium falcon set created, the set is 6kg and has a total of 5195 pieces and has become popular with both Star Wars and Lego enthusiasts it’s also responsible for a new breed of older collectors who were classed as geeks in the past but are now hugely accepted these are affectionately known as AFOL's (adult fans of Lego). This older passion has also spawned magazines dedicated to these fans such a "Brick culture" & "Blocks magazine". As the Brick celebrates its own 50th anniversary and decide to take production back in house, they also launch another huge set this time its iconic Taj Mahal containing nearly 6000 pieces. The new century ends with Lego the 5th largest toy manufacturer in sales. In 2011 in typical Florida fashion the world’s largest LEGOLAND Park is opened in 2011 as Lego becomes the third largest toy manufacturer in sales. 2014 see's the launch of the Lego movie which made $450m globally but couldn't be watched in Billund as it doesn't have a cinema, the movie is just another step in the company's diverse change that has seen Lego strive through the generations to a hugely successful toy with both children and adults alike. |
Lego is to toy making what IKEA is to furniture which is an ethos to deliver mass well produced products at a reasonable price, the company also has typical Scandinavian values that it upholds around the world in its offices one such office is the London office where staff don't have designated desks that includes the very senior staff, the building consists of hubs where staff log on anywhere in the building which also has a nifty app that tells people what floor someone is on but it encourages them to go and find them themselves and in typical fashion everywhere you turn there is a tub of Lego or a model making sure it's employees is never far away from the product.
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