(And since I have spent thousands of dollars collecting them...)
Master carpenter Ole Kirk Christiansen started the company on August 10, 1932 in his studio in the town of Billund in Jutland. The headquarters of the global toy giant are still located in Billund. 
Christiansen created the word "Lego" in 1934 from the Danish words "leg godt" (play well).
Following the company's initial production of wooden toys, he started manufacturing the now legendary plastic building bricks in 1949. Lego then enjoyed half a century of unparalleled sales success, but at the end of the 1990s, the family firm found itself in trouble as more and more children played with computers than with plastic bricks.
Finally in 2006, company chairman Jorgen Vig Knudstorp described after-tax profits of 1.4 billion kroner (258 million dollars) on sales of 7.8 billion kroner as "extremely satisfying."
The turnaround came from the off-loading of production from Denmark and Switzerland to Eastern Europe and concentrating on the core business of building bricks. Germany is Lego's most important market, with an 11.9-per-cent share of the toy market. In 2006, Lego sold some 300 million dollars worth of toys to Germany.
7 comments:
Ole Kirk may have been an ancestor of my good friend Ole Dave Christiansen. Ole Dave was a good man...and a craftsman. I was privileged to give one of many eulogies for O.D. I see why legos have survived the test of time. Good historical remembrance. Thanks.
I wish I could find a source for wooden legos. I may have to get a wood shop somewhere in Pittsburgh and start knocking them out. I can't wait to lego up a pine starship and a balsa Terragonian planet sled. I'll install some mini ion pumps and a heckuva intergalactic Krispy Kreme donut store.
I advertised in the Manila Daily Inquiry for a filipino companion who also grooves on Lego recreation. The little blocks are entertaining, so having a wife or girlfriend (or neighbor woman)who can pop a Lego is an exciting idea. We could make a real life model of Bataan. Imelda had her shoes. We could have our Legos.
I like dominoes. I like marbles. They don't have those little pimples on them. Legos have pimples. All this is important. Or, how about that cream that teenagers use. That would suit me.
Good Info. I'm goin' to Jutland. Kinda a Mecca for Lego-heads
Mr Christensen was the Thomas Edison of his home town. He also made branding irons for the LL Caribou Producers Cooperative there in Jutland. He invented the coal-fired barbeque grill late one night during the charcoal crisis. Jutlanders resumed their red meat fest immediately by utilizing coal from Alsace Lorrain. Just a little extra info.
I'd call that the Knudstorp revolution. He wanted to send a tube of glue with Legos so the creations wouldn't come apart. Cooler minds prevailed.
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