Today, Lego is the most recognizable brand among many manufacturers of children's toys. Both adults and children enjoy playing it. How did a small simple detail become a successful business idea and the ruler of children's minds, thereby growing around itself an entire company with an 80-year history of ups and downs?
Post-war economic impasse
Lego construction partsphoto: pixabay
The 1930s, after the end of the First World War, became a time of change and the beginning of the Great Depression in European countries, where each country pulled the blanket of supremacy over itself. Denmark, which although did not participate in the war, still suffered serious economic damage: unemployment, revolutionary movements, and an economic crisis began.
The government was never able to overcome the crisis, but only calm it down a little by 1939, before the start of World War II, in which Denmark also remained neutral, but still suffered losses. The situation of the population was dire; many found themselves below the poverty line. People were looking for any way to make money, and the most successful business ideas were those that were based on personal unique experience and ingenuity.
In a difficult economic situation, the first prototype of Lego, a future iconic and successful company, appeared in the workshop of a simple carpenter.
Carpenter inventor
photo: pixabay
Ole Kirk Christiansen, the future inventor of Lego, was born and raised in a poor family and was able to receive only a primary education. He was then hired as a carpenter in a factory. But 1932 became a turning point in the fate of the country and in the fate of Christiansen: during the Great Depression, the factory went bankrupt and closed, and in the same year his wife died. Ole Kirk Christiansen was left alone with four children and no job.
To feed his sons, he opens his own workshop for the manufacture of ironing boards and ladders, then he begins to produce wooden children's toys (cars, toy furniture), which began to generate more income than the main products and Christiansen decides to focus his business on the production of children's toys. toys. Production is gradually expanding and in 1934 Christiansen comes up with the name of the future brand “Lego”, derived from the first letters in the phrase “LEg GOdt”, which means “to play well” in Danish.
Having analyzed the needs of consumers of his time, and calculating the possible profit, he decides to diversify the assortment by producing plastic toys. In the 1940s, Ole Kirk visits the UK, where he buys a molding machine to make plastic parts. As an example of the device, he is given several parts, including plastic bricks produced by Kiddcraft.
Having assessed the capabilities and prospects of these small parts, Christiansen begins to improve their design and methods of coupling. This is how the first designer appears, which was patented in the early 1950s.
The goose that lays the golden eggs
Photo: Maxim
The first designer was imperfect, but he immediately won the hearts of young consumers. The company's turnover grew - more than 50 workers worked at the factory and annual income began to reach more than half a million crowns. To maintain success, the company's management makes the following marketing moves:
- the first Lego movie was released;
- a gaming system is created based on simple parts, suitable for children different ages and helping them develop their imagination.
In 1954, the eldest son of Ole Kirk Christiansen, Gottfried, became the head of the company. He emphasizes continuous innovation and expansion of production. He abandoned the variety of toys, relying on the development of one direction - multifunctional construction, from parts connected using the “spike-tube” method. He thoroughly checked all stages of the production of parts, starting from the selection of raw materials and ending with thinking through options for using the “cubes”. He regulated colors and independently developed principles for company employees responsible for developing new products. Gottfried Christensen was in strict control creative process and without a doubt rejected ideas that were uninteresting in his opinion.
Today it is difficult to find a family that does not have at least one Lego set - the products of the Lego company are known to children all over the world. The bright and eye-catching details of this construction set allow the child to completely immerse himself in the world of his fantasies and make them come true.
Now Lego constructors can be bought on any continent and in almost every country, and their scope of application is much wider than children's games and includes the creation of educational aids for school education, the construction of real Lego cities, the launch of working models of robots, and even participation in space developments . And all this is accessible to both the youngest children (the minimum age for which Lego sets of the Duplo series are created is 3 years), and adults who are interested in construction (Lego constructors do not have a maximum age limit).
Why were these simple construction toys able to win the love of many, many generations of children around the world? How did it happen that Lego became so popular in the world? The answers to these questions lie in the history of Lego, in how this company treated its products, what goals it set for itself and how it sought to achieve them.
Lego history
Start of the company
And it all began back in 1932 in a small European country – Denmark. Joiner and carpenter Ol Kirk Christiansen decided to found own company, which for the first 17 years of its existence produced ladders and ironing boards, and besides this, wooden children's toys, which were very much in demand by children of that time, because plastic had not yet been invented. It is toys for children that have become the main direction of development of Kirk Christiansen's company, and that is why the company's name is associated with children. The word "LEGO" comes from the phrase "leg godt", which in Danish means "play with pleasure". It was the joy that his toys brought to children that became the main goal that Kirk Christiansen set for his company, and then his son Godtfred, who became his father’s main assistant at the toy factory.
The development of science and industry has made it possible to use plastic to produce things for everyday household use, including children's toys. Therefore, since 1947, the Lego company began making not only wooden, but also plastic toys. While it was not the highest quality plastic - it quickly lost its color, and the edges of the parts quickly rubbed off from rubbing against each other. But appearance Lego parts were created immediately and forever, and it was the universal principle of attaching parts to each other that made the Lego company the most popular among children all over the world.
The secret of such popularity is very simple - Kirk and Godtfred Christiansen really wanted to bring joy to children - not just make toys, but make toys that children would like. Therefore, before launching the production of plastic construction sets, they turned to a child psychologist - Mr. Hilary Harry Fisher Page, who lived in England. Mr. Fisher Page, based on his experience working with children, created the first plastic cube that could be attached to an unlimited number of similar cubes in the same way. It was these cubes that became the basis of the now famous Lego constructor.
The emergence of modern parts and Legoland
But at first, plastic toys were not very popular, neither with children nor with their parents. The fact is that the plastic was not of very high quality - it smelled, lost color, and wore off. Wooden toys were much more durable and safe. But father and son Christiansen did not lose hope - after all, they wanted to create the most popular toy in the world, capable of bringing pleasure to children of all ages. Therefore, the Lego design was constantly improved and in 1958 the Christiansens themselves developed a modern Lego part - absolutely identical to the parts that are sold now. That is, Lego parts released in 1958 can easily be combined with parts released in 2000 or 2015.
Unfortunately, in the same 1958, the founder of the company, Ol Kirk Kristansen, died, and Godtfred Christiansen became the head of the company. Under his leadership, Lego has abandoned the production of wooden toys since 1960, devoting all its efforts to the development of plastic construction sets as a material with much greater capabilities. Thanks to research in chemistry, plastics are becoming better and safer. Since 1963, the Lego company began to use modern plastic - the so-called ABS plastic. This material does not lose color, does not smell and practically does not wear off when used. Parts from 1963 still adhere perfectly to modern ones. Further history Lego is already associated with the use of these parts in the creation of various sets and the implementation of the craziest ideas for their time based on them.
That is, exactly 1963 is the year of creation of such a Lego part as we know it in our time. At this time, children in Denmark, Sweden, Germany, and the USA can choose from 57 ready-made Lego sets and 25 individual cars. The created series of Lego trains in various versions are becoming very popular. By the way, for Lego cars and trains in 1966-1968, engines were specially developed that a child could use at his own discretion and construct various vehicles based on them. In 1969, Lego constructors were already produced in quantities of more than 700 million pieces per year, including the Lego series for the little ones, invented in the same year - LEGO DUPLO - this is the same Lego, but enlarged 8 times.
1968 is famous for another event in the history of Lego - this is the year of the opening of the grandiose amusement park - Legoland. This park covers an area of 59 hectares, which is approximately the size of 100 football fields. And all this space is reserved for a whole city, assembled from Lego parts known to everyone, even cars, trains and ships are made from Lego blocks. There were no such amusement parks in Europe at that time and there still aren’t. Today, millions of families from all over the world come to Legoland every year to immerse themselves for a few hours or even a few days in the exciting world created throughout the history of Lego. Legoland even has its own hotel with almost 130 rooms, where you can stay for several days.
About the first period of Lego's history - from the founding of the company, the appearance of the first parts of the designer, the development of a universal part, the creation of various sets, from the opening of Legoland and the increasing popularity of Lego throughout the world - the cartoon Lego Story was filmed, telling about the history of Lego from 1932 to 1968. This cartoon is worth watching not only for children who are interested in Lego, but also for their parents. This will provide an opportunity not only to learn about the development of one of the most successful companies in the world, but also to get to know the world of your children better, understand their hobbies and realize their fantasies and creative potential.
Lego figures - a new era of Lego
It’s hard to believe now, but those models and sets that are very popular today among children in most countries of the world were invented by Lego developers back in the 70s. A special role in the development of new ideas was played by the grandson of the creator of the Lego company, Kirk Christiansen, Kield Christiansen. It was he who came up with the Lego Technic series, the parts of which were connected in new ways that were unusual for Lego lovers. Lego Technician was intended for school-age children and was great for developing technical skills.
Another breakthrough in Lego ideas, which occurred in 1974, while Kird was at the head of the company, was the appearance of Lego figurines (since 1992, Lego figurines were called Lego System). At first, the little figures could not move their arms and legs, but already 4 years after their birth - in 1978 - they had such an opportunity. It was Lego figures that allowed children not only to construct anything from identical parts, but to create their own worlds populated by inhabitants. Without Lego minifigures, the series of the most popular designer in the world today would hardly be as diverse. How can you imagine the series Star Wars without Luke Skywalker or Darth Vader, the Castle series without knights, and the City series without city residents? It was their own heroes who gave the Lego company a second chance, when in the 90s children became seriously interested in computer games and lost interest in ordinary toys.
Widespread computerization practically deprived traditional construction sets of popularity, and Lego suffered losses until 2001. But any crisis is always the basis for the emergence of something new, and the story of Lego is a vivid example of this. The development of new technologies marked the beginning of a new life for the company. In addition to the continued emergence of new series based on classic Lego parts, new versions of construction sets are being created, for example, Lego Bionicle, and a little later – Lego Ninjago. They very quickly become popular with children.
In addition, Lego was able to use its figures to expand the ability to master new technologies - computer games, animation and films. If at first computer games prevented Lego constructors from gaining popularity among children, then since the creation of the first Lego game for the computer (Lego Island), everything has changed. Lego games have become very popular among children and to date, 55 games have already been created for different Lego series, in different game genres and with different plots. The same thing happened with cartoons and movies. If in the 90s the idea of making a cartoon with the participation of the same type of plastic men would have been received with surprise, then in the 2000s, when such cartoons appeared, both children and adults really liked them, since they were filmed using modern technologies and had learning potential and were interesting. Currently, you can watch more than 25 animated films featuring Lego characters.
Lego and space
It seems incredible, but Lego parts are so versatile, their scope of application is so wide that in addition to creating real vehicles, buildings and household items in Legoland, Lego parts have recently been used in space! We are talking about a Lego robot from the MINDSTORMS series, specially designed to work on a space station.
The history of the appearance of this robot is as follows:
In 2001, the Lego company announced a competition to create a Lego robot that could function in zero gravity and perform some useful task on a space station. 124 Lego lovers from all over the world agreed to take part in this competition. Their robots went through a rigorous selection process, and from 10 finalists, only one winner was chosen - a robot called Jitter, created by Conrad and Bastian Schwarzbach. Jitter went into space and demonstrated to the whole world the inexhaustible possibilities that are available to every owner of a Lego constructor. Using standard light sensors and a processor, Jitter could navigate the space of the ship and collect objects floating in zero gravity, thereby relieving the astronauts of the hassle of “catching” them. As a reward, the creators of the Lego astronaut robot were given the opportunity to observe its work during two direct communication sessions with the space station.
This story became the embodiment of the dream of the creators of the Lego company - to make a toy that would be interesting and which would always be a pleasure to play not only for children, but also for adults. This is amazing, but any inhabitant of the planet could assemble such a robot as Jitter, having a very small set of parts and not having very serious knowledge of programming. The Jitter design does not have non-standard solutions, and today any schoolchild can bring this project to life. This is exactly what the organizers of the competition tried to achieve - to demonstrate to the whole world that human creative possibilities know no bounds, that a few pieces of plastic combined with modern technologies, make everything possible!
Lego now
Now the Lego company is the absolute leader among toy manufacturers in the world, producing the most popular construction set among children. It is probably impossible to describe all the areas of use of Lego in life and assess the scale of the company’s activities. But some facts and events from the history of Lego in recent years will help give you an idea of this:
- - The most expensive Lego piece is valued at $14,449.
- - A resident of Norway, Jon Jenssen, was included in the Guinness Book of Records for his Lego collection of the Star Wars series - it includes 300 ships, consisting of approximately 750 thousand parts.
- - In 2013, a full-size car was assembled from 500 thousand Lego parts, capable of moving in space at a speed of 30 kilometers per hour, using compressed air cylinders as fuel.
- - In 2013, the X-Wing starship, assembled from 5.5 million Lego pieces weighing a total of 23 tons, was put on public display in New York.
It's hard to evaluate Lego today. What is it: a game or a construction business, an entertainment or a serious activity, a hobby or a collecting business, a toy company or a corporation serving all aspects of life? Most likely, all of these statements will be true. The history of Lego goes back more than 80 years, and all of it is subordinated to achieving the goal inherent in the company's name - “play with pleasure”! And watching how children and adults spend long hours with pleasure, surrendering to the power of their own imagination, creating their own creations, we can confidently say that this goal has been achieved!
Lavrinenko Anna
Summary of the conversation “History of Lego Country”
History of Lego Country
Target: Give children ideas about origins designer, its developer. Activate attention. Develop cognitive
interest, communication skills.
Equipment: multimedia board, presentation.
Progress of the lesson:
Nowadays it is difficult to find an adult or child who has not heard about LEGO constructor.
Story« Lego» began in 1932 in the factory of carpenter Ole Kirk Christiansen from the small town of Billund in Denmark. The factory was engaged in the production of stepladders, stools, ironing boards and wooden toys.
In 1934, Ole announced a competition for the best name for a company producing children's toys, which he himself won. As a trademark for his products, he chose the initial letters of the phrase LEg GОdt, which in Danish means “play well.” At that time, in addition to wooden cubes with letters and numbers, « Lego» produced wooden tractors, trains, locomotives, carriages, cars, rocking horses and even toy irons. Most of the models were invented by his son Ole Gottfried, who worked at the factory from the age of 17, and after his father’s death in 1958, he headed the LEGO company.
The LEGO Group began producing the first plastic toys in 1947 - these were collectible models of cars, tractors and locomotives. At the same time, Christiansen got his hands on samples of the so-called "self-locking bricks" made of plastic
In 1947, the LEGO company acquired equipment for the production of plastic and molds, and two years later it produced about 200 types of various plastic and wooden toys, including those "self-locking bricks". The father and son Christiansens then modified Page's invention by eliminating the side slots and smoothing out the protruding pins at the top. Prototype of modern bricks « Lego» was born in 1949 under the name Automatic Binding Bricks. The material used was plastic based on cellulose acetate. The company began producing sets consisting of "bricks", flat bases for their fastening and additional parts. "Bricks" LEGOs had several round "hats" and a hollow rectangular base, which allowed them to attach to each other, but not as tightly as they interlocked "bricks".
Constructors, which are now associated with the name LEGO, appeared in 1954-1958 and in the late 50s became one of the most popular children's entertainment in Europe. The use of plastic as a material for making toys was frowned upon by both sellers and buyers at the time.
LEGO bricks continued their triumphal march around the world. Bricks Lego still retain their shape and color, and also adhere firmly to "bricks" manufactured today. All details designers LEGOs are made to a specific standard.
In June 1968, the LEGOLAND park opened in Billund, built on an area of 59 hectares, and from the following year the company began producing special products for it - cars, trucks, police cars. Gears appear in LEGO sets different colors and sizes. First in the world « Legoland» was built in 1968, in his homeland LEGO constructor, in Denmark, in the very center of the Jutland peninsula, in a small town called Billund. This is the largest to date Legoland in the world, consisting of a total of over 46 million LEGO bricks of various sizes. The park covers approximately 100,000 square meters.
Danish park area Legoland is divided into thematic blocks, each of which is intended for children of a certain age.
Thematic zones: Miniland, DUPLO Land, Imagination Zone, LEGOREDO Town, Pirate Land, Knight’s Kingdom, Adventure Land, LEGO City.
Miniland
"Miniland"- this is the heart Legoland, it was from this block that the construction of the park began and, naturally, it took greatest number LEGO bricks (about 20 million). This park area is a world in miniature and is designed not only for children, but also for their parents. Miniland is a concentration of the most famous corners of the world, realistically built from LEGO constructor in miniature size. Here you can see the Statue of Liberty made from LEGO, the famous Big Ben, a huge number of famous streets, squares, cultural and art monuments, an airport, a railway station and a port.
World Duplo
Duploland - zone Legoland, equipped with a special soft covering that protects children from falls, and is therefore intended for the youngest visitors. This part of the park is famous for the driving school for children built here - SEAT Traffic School. In it, children can be taught the rules traffic, and after passing an almost real driving test, get a children's driver's license.
World of Imagination
Imagination Zone is a park area intended for older children, as it houses the LEGO MINDSTORMS Center, a center where children can create their own toys from LEGO. There is also a modern 4D cinema, equipped with modern audio and video equipment, which attracts many adults.
City Legoredo
City Legoredo - park area, which is a corner of the Wild West and full of attractions and all kinds of entertainment corresponding to this theme. The thematic block is designed for family vacations.
Land of Pirates
Land of Pirates - thematic block Legoland calling for travel. Here children will find sword battles with pirates, mysterious caves and, of course, an exciting treasure hunt.
Kingdom of Knights
The Kingdom of Knights is a world of knights and princesses, represented by a huge medieval era castle built from lego. In it, kids will find all sorts of adventures, attractions and even a meeting with a flying dragon.
Adventure World
This part Legoland designed for older children and intended for thrill-seekers. There are a huge number of breathtaking attractions here.: From fun water rides to roller coasters and zip lines.
"LEGO City"- this is a park area « Legoland» , which is a real city. It even has its own fire station and manufacturing factory made from LEGO.
In 1973, the LEGO logo appeared, which still exists today - a white inscription in a red square.
In 1975, designers designer came to mind original idea– add sets miniature figures little men. At first they had no faces and represented an armless torso, which was accompanied by a wide set of plastic hairstyles and headdresses. Classic figurines of people with faces appeared in 1978. Today there are almost 4,000 different figurines of men, animals and fantastic creatures.
In 2000, the British Toy Traders Association named the LEGO brick the most significant toy of the 20th century. The company's main production facilities are located in Denmark, the Czech Republic and Mexico. Main plant in Billund, where there are rows of automatic machines in workshops up to half a kilometer long, about 21 billion cubes are produced per year, and the daily consumption of plastic is 60 tons
In September 1996, at the Seventh World Congress of Networked Family Business, held in Lausanne (Switzerland), the Swiss International Institute for Management and Transformation awarded Keld Kirk Christiansen and the LEGO Group the Order of Devotion family business, thereby noting the company’s outstanding achievements over the years of its existence. During all this time Lego company has grown into one of the world's largest and most respected children's toy companies.
Today the Lego group consists of 41 companies on all six continents. Lego products are sold in more than 60,000 stores and in more than 130 countries.
Between 200 and 300 million children and adults have played and continue to play with Lego bricks.
And it all started extremely simply...
In 1932, the Dane Ole Kirk Christiansen, having saved up some money, decided to start his own business, simple and reliable - the production of stepladders and ironing boards. In order not to throw money away at first, in the carpenter's shed, which was located behind the carpenter's shop, he found a business for each of the family members. Worked especially hard younger son Gottfried Kirk Christiansen. 12-year-old Gottfried diligently helped clean the workshop twice a day. A father once noticed that his son did not throw away the pieces of board that looked like cubes, but put them in a separate box.
Gottfried, why do you need this garbage? - It's not trash, dad. I paint scraps and exchange them with the guys. They think it's cubes. Look what a pocket knife I got for 12 blue and 12 red dice.
And have you managed to change a lot already?
All! Only our carpenter cuts the board so carefully that there is almost no waste left.
They say the best things about rules are the exceptions. If waste from the production of a product is in greater demand than the product itself, then only a lazy person would not think about what benefits can be derived from it. Ole Christiansen was not a lazy person. He began whittling cubes. Trade immediately picked up. Cubes, unlike ironing boards, tended to get lost, so they were bought more often. The old business was over: life itself demanded that a new one be started.
The new business required ingenuity. And Christiansen invented “sets”: the cubes were sold in a set by color. The name could explain to customers that this was a new product. It just asked for packaging - “ Exciting game». In Danish it was "Leg Godt". But not every child could pronounce this combination, Christiansen decided and removed some consonants. What's left is Lego. Later it turned out that “lego” in Latin means nothing more than “I study”, “I fold”... As it turns out, Christensen did an incredible job accurate forecast. The founder of the famous “design bureau” formulated the main idea of the company: to make toys that would help a child learn with pleasure and embody his wildest fantasies in intricate play.
But it was too early to stop there. In 1934, Ole Kirk Christiansen borrowed three thousand Danish kroner (about $500) from numerous relatives and registered the company. At that time, the company employed 7 people. A few years later, a slogan invented by Ole appeared on the wall of the workshop: “Only the best is worthy.” By 1936, the price list included 42 models. The most expensive of them was a cargo van, the price of which was 36 DKK. To Ole’s surprise, they dispersed before the paint had time to dry.
Over the course of 10 years, the LEGO factory has been developing and covers an area of 180 square meters with two floors and an attic of 40 square meters.
At the same time Ole Christiansen develops original marketing strategy. The idea was extremely simple. Each child could play in the store with any toy he liked for as long as he liked. Not every parent will decide to take away the toy they like from their offspring. While the visitors' children played, Ole entertained their parents with conversations. But he did it more out of talkativeness than out of calculation. The parents nodded sympathetically and... bought another horse. It was in this way that the process of trading goods went very quickly, and besides, Ole Christiansen’s homemade products were inexpensive then.
The family business flourished. All four of Ole’s sons had already made rocking horses and ducks on wheels themselves and were not going to stop there. In the end, the carpenter's shop felt like Gulliver, towering over the competitors swarming below. But not for long, because in March 1942 fate dealt a serious blow. The house, carpentry shop and LEg GOdt store were reduced to a pile of ash. A toy warehouse with products for 270 stores burned to the ground. The arsonists were German bombers. Only in a year Insurance Company paid Ole about fifty thousand crowns. They could try to restore the case. And soon the wooden ducks and horses were ready to roll off the assembly line...
In 1944 the company transformed into a family company and became known as Billund LEGO Toy Factory Limited. The eldest son Gottfred respected his father very much, but believed that in order to remain in the market for a long time, a scientific approach was necessary, even if we're talking about about things like toys. First of all, Gottfred distinguished between children who play with toys and parents who buy them.
Gottfred classified children's games as follows.
Until the age of two, children basically don’t care what to play with. If only the toys squeaked louder, rang, were brightly colored and, of course, safe.
Older children are already beginning to understand themselves and their gender. And they are fascinated by the so-called role-playing games (boys have theirs and girls have theirs), copying events from real life. In this case, real circumstances and objects are replaced by toy ones.
Gottfred's concept was good because it promised serious profits for toy manufacturing companies. After all, the reconstructed children's world, like a real adult, can be constantly replenished with new objects and things. Now all that remained was to convince adults that role-playing games were most useful for children. But the old wooden cubes were no longer quite suitable for the development of this concept. Gottfred wondered what else could be used to make cubes. Just when Gottfred Christiansen finished his theoretical research, plastic was invented. The new material was not only safer than wood, but also looked much brighter. This was exactly what was needed.
But go to new material succeeded only in 1947. Under pressure from his son, Ole Christiansen bought the first machine for the production of plastic cubes in the UK, as well as a patent for their production. Exactly then LEGO became the first company in Denmark to purchase a machine that cast plastic molds to make toys. It was extremely timely. Within a few months, Lego filled the shelves of all toy stores with plastic dolls and rattles, which sold brilliantly.
But the plastic cubes did not work well. They were too light, and the doll houses built from them inevitably crumbled with any careless movement. However, it was the cubes that seemed to Gottfred to be the most universal gaming material. Only the traditional cubes needed to be improved. Then one of the employees suggested making cubes with pins. Using the matrix stamp, making such pins was extremely easy. It was already a “matrix revolution” - The revolutionary solution was that, with the help of pins, the structure built from cubes was made rigid, and therefore movable. Now it was possible to build anything from cubes - they turned into bricks. This made it possible to achieve an unlimited number of combinations and create a wide variety of toys from standard elements.
In 1949, the company produced about 200 different plastic and wooden toys, including easy-to-connect building elements of LEGO bricks. They were sold exclusively in Denmark. The factory covers an area of 2300 square meters and has a staff of 50 workers. The world of LEGO has become meaningful. In set games, given forms appeared and characters appeared.
In 1950, on his thirtieth birthday, Gottfried Kirk Christiansen was appointed junior director of the LEGO company. He continues his work on the development of the LEGO Play System: Every new LEGO toy development is based on the idea that children can use play to develop and learn about the world at every stage of their development. The result exceeded all the most optimistic expectations. Lego toys have become known as a sensational invention. And Gottfred Christiansen is a man who managed to combine play and education.
Since 1953, LEGO bricks have been called “LEGO Mursten” (“LEGO bricks”). In the same year, a foundry was founded in Billund. Norway began producing LEGO products, including easy-to-connect LEGO elements, by renting special molds to make plastic toys.
On May 1, 1954, the LEGO name was officially registered in Denmark. The following year, after LEGO bricks had established themselves in the market, the company released System LEGO games, consisting of 28 sets and 8 vehicles, which created a real sensation. In the same year, plastic toys and the LEGO Play System were exported.
By that time, the LEGO empire continued to improve, new characters appeared not only in play sets, but also in the management of the company - the father was replaced by a son. Gottfried Kirk Christiansen was appointed its managing director, and after the death of Ole Kirk Christiansen, his son Gottfried Kirk Christiansen took over the LEGO company. He continued his father's work with dignity. By the early 1960s, there were 50 LEGO sets, 15 vehicles and several individual pieces. LEGO constructors become familiar to both children and adults. They fully fulfill their purpose - to give joy and encourage creativity, to help children develop and learn about the world. By creating construction toys, LEGO continued to strive to inspire children through play, giving them the opportunity to experiment and create their own world where there are no boundaries.
LEGO designers had to answer ten main criteria, which were formulated by Gottfried Kirk Christiansen:
unlimited possibilities when assembling models,
creation of construction sets for girls and boys,
The game captivates children of any age and level of development,
stimulates the child’s activity and completely captivates him,
You can sit at the designer for hours,
the designer promotes the development of imagination and creativity,
With the advent of new models, interest in the game increases,
LEGO themes are always relevant,
the constructor is absolutely safe,
LEGO products are of high quality.
Gottfried Kirk Christiansen divided all the invented toys into series. For example, an educational series of games with blocks was invented for children from 0 to 4 years old. She helped the baby realize oneself, learn to communicate with other children, develop logical thinking and creative inclinations, and for those who were older, sets were made with role-playing games, for example from the life of racers or famous fairy tales. Almost all construction sets were combined with each other in such a way that the child was provided with the material to create an almost endless fairy tale. Parts of almost any construction set could be used in a wide variety of children's fantasies.
However, LEGO considered it premature to stop at this stage of development. In 1968, a new kingdom appears, a fantastic country replete with a wide variety of technical fantasies. In the homeland of LEGO, in the Danish town of Billund, a family fun park LEGOLAND. In addition to a myriad of attractions for “children from 0 to 99,” the most interesting things ever invented by the company’s designers were collected. Here you could easily get acquainted with a lot of architectural sights, only in miniature. The Taj Mahal, the Amsterdam embankment, the Acropolis - all this is made from ordinary Lehov cubes, and so skillfully that, if desired, art history classes can be taught in the town. And nearby were two-meter-tall men made from LEGO bricks, gnomes, flamingos and even a fire-breathing dragon. There was a bright toy train running right there, which park visitors enjoyed riding on. There was a driving school, where the child drove to his heart's content and solemnly received a driver's license. A little further away there was an island of entertainment for the little ones, a Lego rodeo and a country of pirates with a huge caravel anchored near the shore of the pond, and at a distance rose medieval castle with battlements, bridges and flags.
There were so many people wanting to see the miracle park that the Danish outback had toget your own international airport!
Now there are 4 Legoland parks in the world: in Billund (Denmark), in Windsor (UK), in California (USA) and in Günzburg (Germany). The difference between Legoland Park and Disneyland, first of all, was that people go there not to have fun, but, above all, to learn. Disneyland cannot be moved to your home, but Legoland can easily be moved. After all, everything here is made from LEGO bricks.
The LEGO empire expanded like a river in flood and spread throughout the world. Branches arose in Switzerland, overseas - in the USA. LEGO has its own fans. And even as they grew up, they did not give up the “game of cubes.” Proof of this is the research of one American company. She set out to find out which toys are most in demand among adults. The action was held under the slogan “We all come from childhood.” According to some reports, more than 10 thousand people were surveyed in the USA, Canada, Mexico, Great Britain, Germany and Australia. The results of this unique test shocked its organizers. As it turns out, most men and women between the ages of 30 and 50 prefer Lego. It was these designers who took first place in the ranking.
In 1977, Keld Kirk Christiansen, the grandson of Ole Kirk Christiansen, a representative of the third generation of owners of the LEGO Group, was included in the process of managing the “Lego empire”. A couple of years later, he was appointed president of INTERLEGO A/S (in January 1987 it was renamed LEGO A/S).
Until the end of the 20th century, the LEGO company was at the height of its glory, as evidenced by the following facts:
a star discovered in the constellation Ursa Minor was named LEGO;
An opera based on the life of the LEGO company was staged in Italy starting in 1932.
The American magazine Fortune called the LEGO brick “the product of the century” because it changed people's lives in the 20th century.
The British Toy Traders Association awarded Lego the title "Toys of the Century" The award was presented on January 30, 2000.
But technological progress did not stand still and new generations of children from the real world of the game began to move into the virtual one. Computer games began to take the place of cubes. A serious threat has emerged for the Lego Empire. But Keld Christiansen did not lose faith in the work started by his grandfather. Therefore, one day he assembled a board of directors, at which he greatly puzzled everyone by the fact that it was necessary to look for new forms of play not only for children, but also for the company itself. Realizing this, LEGO began to change its strategy and entered into an alliance with new technologies, but only so that they would help the cubes “get smarter.” And after some time, it was already possible to assemble mini-robots from LEGO bricks, which were controlled from a distance. At the same time, thanks to built-in video systems, robots have learned to “see,” and for moviegoers of any age, Danish entertainers, together with Steven Spielberg, invented LEGO Studio to make a real movie.
By the end of 1998, LEGO Media International had released three computer games - LEGO Creator, LEGO Chess and LEGO Loco. The era of high technology has made it possible to connect toys to a personal computer. Even “smart” cubes were created: elements with a computer and batteries built into them (the “LEGO Mindstorms” series). Now novice designers have something to be proud of: toy aircraft roar like real planes, and cars are driven by a radio transmitter.
LEGO Star Wars sets have become the best-selling product in Europe. The LEGO Company underwent personnel restructuring, as a result of which the organization system was simplified, and new employees were recruited from different countries, which are expected to be involved in projects of the 21st millennium.
So LEGO is not leaving the battlefield yet; its designers are ready to compete not in virtual, but in real dimensions.
So what made LEGO a megabrand?
Firstly, His Majesty the Case in which creativity and interest to the simplest things played a major role.
Secondly, mutual support all family members who share the idea and concept of LEGO.
Third, confidence in success and the unconditional optimism of its creators.
And further - attention to people, knowledge of the world of children and consumer psychology, subtle consideration of current and future interests of buyers. The creators of the company focused on socialization, trying to facilitate the process of introducing a child to adult life.
But there was one more secret. LEGO has contributed to the eternal search for the meaning of life. The LEGO philosophy is reflected in a slogan that could not help but touch the mind and soul of any person trying to survive in this difficult world: “We want to bring out the child in each of you.” The philosophy is both simple and wise at the same time: a person should always remain a child. This is the only way he can learn, achieve success, learn new things, and change the world.
Lego is a brand name for a line of construction toys for children produced by the Lego Group. The LEGO Group is a private company with its main office in Denmark, in the city of Billund. Lego constructors are the most popular and, of course, the most famous product of this company in the world. Lego constructors consist of plastic cubes, various auxiliary elements and minifigures. Lego bricks can be connected together in many ways. in various ways, creating amazing structures based on them, including buildings, vehicles, and even working robots (for example, the Lego Mindstorms series). Everything assembled from Lego can later be disassembled and the building blocks and elements can be used to create other structures. The idea of the Lego constructor came to the founder of the company, Ole Kirk Christiansen, in the forties of the 20th century. And these days, Lego has become a kind of subculture that attracts millions of people around the world and includes video games, various competitions and competitions in building from Lego sets, and even five Lego parks.
Early history of the company
As already mentioned, the founder of the Lego company was Ole Kirk Christiansen, a carpenter by profession. He lived in Billund, Denmark. His then small private enterprise was engaged in the manufacture of wooden toys. The name Lego first appeared in 1934 and was based on the Danish phrase "leg godt", which means "to play well". The company released its first plastic building kits in 1947, but they were not yet similar to the famous Lego bricks that children around the world play with today. But Lego in the form we are familiar with now (bricks interlocking in all sorts of combinations) appeared in 1949. Kiddicraft's patent was used in their production. The English company Kiddcraft, founded in 1932, was in many ways the ideological inspiration for Lego. It was its founder, Hillary Harry Fischer, who invented and patented the idea of “toy building blocks”. It was he who for the first time in history described cubes with four and eight protrusions on the surface for mutual connection. This was back in 1947. Such construction sets were produced by Harry Fischer's company in the post-war years. The Lego founder received samples of Kiddcraft plastic bricks along with a plastic injection molding machine he purchased in England as a demonstration of the installation's capabilities. After studying the design of these toy building blocks in detail, he decided to copy them. Christiansen slightly modified the design of the English bricks and called his brick "Automatic Interlocking Bricks". Doesn't it sound like Fischer's name? Fischer never found out about all this and his daughter later said “I’m surprised that my father never heard of Lego until the day he died.” The Lego company acquired a patent for the production of cubes - “self-adhesive building blocks” using Kiddcraft technology only in 1981.
The first Lego bricks were made from cellulose acetate, a substance invented in 1865 and known as celluloid. Celluloid then served as the basis for the production of cinema and photographic films, as well as eyeglass frames. The first plastic blocks looked much more fun than their wooden counterparts, but were still not of high enough quality to provide good grip and at the same time low force to separate the blocks. In his activities, Christiansen was guided by the slogan “even the best is never too good.” This is why Ole Christiansen has put quality at the forefront. To this day, Christiansen's slogan is the Lego company flag. However, the first sales of the new Lego designer ended in failure and the goods were returned from reseller points back to the company: buyers were not yet ready to evaluate the new product. In 1954, Ole Christiansen's son, Godfried Kirk Christiansen, took over the management of the company. Godfried believed that Lego's main trump card should be the creation of systems for creative children's games. But he was prevented from realizing his dream by the technical imperfections of Lego bricks: their ability to interlock and hold each other, as well as the instability of workmanship, did not meet the requirements. The first step towards the dream was the development of a new cube design in 1958. The problem remained with the material from which Lego bricks were made. And this problem was not solved so quickly: research took another five years. As a result, the polymer ABS (acrylonitrile butadiene styrene) was chosen. The new Lego brick was immediately patented. This happened in 1958. From then to this day, all Lego models are compatible with each other.
Design and development
Lego bricks are a universal system for children's construction. Despite the huge number of variants of individual elements and their original purpose, each of them remains compatible with all the others. Each Lego brick is manufactured with high precision and this allows them to adhere securely without being too tight. The production accuracy of Lego bricks is no worse than 10 microns! These standards are higher than many used for the manufacture of industrial parts and mechanisms! Most of the initial concepts and development are carried out at Lego's headquarters in Billund, where about 120 designers work. There are smaller Lego design divisions in England, Spain, Germany and Japan. Regional bureaus usually develop Lego sets for specific national markets. This ensures direct contact with customers and consideration of their wishes. The next stage - design - is based on an analysis of consumer preferences and wishes. Since September 2008, the development team has been using 3D modeling to pre-visualize Lego toys. The resulting graphic images are then sent to all Lego development offices in order to collect comments and suggestions, as well as to gauge children's interest. This process at Lego is called “validation.” Next, based on the collected feedback, the design and parameters of the Lego sets are refined.
Since 1963, Lego bricks have been made from ABS. Since September 2008, the company has been using a CAD system for design, which allows the development and optimization of parts of the structure. Thanks to this approach, high development speed and excellent properties of Lego bricks are achieved: they are beautiful and durable. To cast Lego bricks, ABS plastic is heated to 232 degrees Celsius (to a dough-like consistency). Then soft plastic under high pressure poured into a mold, where it cools for 15 seconds under pressure of up to 150 tons. Casting machines provide accuracy down to 2 micrometers. The Lego bricks produced are then inspected by human quality inspectors. To do this, out of every million Lego bricks produced, 8 pieces are randomly selected. About 1 percent of Lego bricks produced are rejected and melted down. The production of Lego sets is based in many factories around the world. In addition, to create a finished construction set, you also need packaging, as well as instructions for assembling Lego models. We can say that Lego production is very international. Its scale is amazing: in one year alone, about 36 billion cubes are produced. That's approximately 1,140 Lego building blocks per second! If all these bricks are distributed equally among all the inhabitants of our planet, you will get approximately 62 Lego bricks for each person. Back in 2006, Lego, which then produced 306 million small rubber tires for its models, was the No. 1 tire manufacturer in the world.
Lego Today
Since its founding, the Lego company has produced hundreds of different themed construction sets. This includes Lego Atlantis, Lego Racing, Lego City, Lego Duplo, Lego Star Wars, Lego Games, Lego Creator, Lego Ninjago, Lego System, Lego Cars, Lego Technician, Lego Hero Factory, and many others. With new sets, Lego lovers always get new construction elements. Special sets for girls have also been developed, for example Belleville. By the way, they are fully compatible with any other Lego sets. Lego also produces “military” sets, for example, Star Wars. And this fully corresponds to the concept of the company’s founder: wars are only acceptable in games. The range of Lego elements has been expanded to include electric motors, gears, light sources, various sensors and cameras. All this is designed in such a way that it is fully compatible with other Lego components. Electric motors and battery compartments, as well as light sources and switches, are combined into a common “Power Functions” section. The “Technique” product line (Lego Technician) uses a new type of connecting Lego bricks, which, however, is fully compatible with the classic one. All Lego Technic models can be brought to life with additional Power Functions sets.
Lego Bionicle is a separate direction in the Lego Group. These kits are intended for children aged 7 to 16 years. The Bionicle line was launched in January 2001 in Europe and June 2001 in the USA. The idea for Bionicles is based on the earlier Lego Slizers series, also known as Throwbots and Roboriders. Both of these series had the same throwing discs and were assembled from classic Lego elements. Bionicle figures have become larger in size and more flexible in design. In 2010, the Lego Bionicle series was replaced by the new Lego Hero Factory series.
One of the oldest branches of Lego is Duplo. It dates back to 1969. The first Lego Duplo sets were simple building blocks that were double the size of a standard Lego brick. They were intended for the youngest Lego lovers.
Lego Technic started in 1977 and immediately gained wild popularity.
In 1979, a series called “Fabuland” started. This line was designed to fill the gap between Duplo construction sets and “adult” Lego sets. Lego Fabuland is a fairyland made in a cartoon style. The elements of these sets are simplified and adapted for young children. For example, the roof of a building consists of a single large element. The cubes of these sets are large, the same as those of Duplo.
One of the largest Lego sets is the Millennium Falcon from the Lego Star Wars series. Created by Jens Kronvold Fredriksen in 2007, this set has 5,195 pieces! But it is also inferior to the Taj Mahal set, which contains 5922 Lego pieces.
In May 2011, a mission on the space shuttle Endeavor carried thirteen Lego sets to the space station, where astronauts assembled models and studied their response to microgravity as part of the Lego Bricks in Space program. Research results are freely distributed among educational institutions.
Characters from films and comics
Over the years, Lego has acquired licenses and produced characters from films, cartoons and comics. Series Avatar, Batman, Ben 10, Cars, Harry Potter, Indiana Jones Pirates of the Caribbean, Prince of Persia, Spider-Man, SpongeBob square Pants, Star Wars, Toy Story... Some of these series, such as Lego Star Wars and Indiana Jones, are a fantastic success among children and adults. Lego is now striving to reduce the number of such licensed characters in its construction sets, replacing them with its own in-game stories.
Robotic kits
In 1998, Lego launched a line of robotic kits called "Mindstorms". This line is successfully expanding and supplementing these days. The basis for the Mindstorms series of construction kits was the developments of the MIT Media Lab company, and the name was invented by the mathematician and computer developer of this company, Seymour Papert, whose research activities closely intertwined with the Lego Group. The programmable Lego brick at the heart of the Mindstorms sets has already undergone several updates and improvements and was eventually named the NXT brick. The latest in the series, Lego Mindstorms NXT 2.0, includes sensors that respond to touch, light, sound and ultrasonic vibrations. Several additional ones can be purchased separately. For example, RFID reader. The Smart Cube can be programmed using software for Windows or Mac. The program is loaded into the cube using a Bluetooth connection or a USB cable. There are also several unofficial programs and programming languages compatible with the cube. A huge number of articles have already been written on programming these sets, and the community of Lego Mindstorms fans numbers hundreds of thousands of people. Lego robot competitions are held based on the sets. The oldest of them is Bootball, a national competition for American schoolchildren.