1950: On my 30th birthday, I was appointed Junior Managing Director of the LEGO Group.
The photo acting as background was actually taken on that very day.
1920: I was born in Billund Denmark, on July 8. My mother died in 1932, leaving my father Ole to provide for my three brothers and I. He decided to do so with a toy company. The name of that toy company, LEGO, is made from the words Leg Godt, meaning play well.
1939-1940: When I turned nineteen, I began studying at Haslev Technical College. I would send home my technical drawing and design schoolwork as toy design ideas. Although this was my first major contribution, I had been helping out at the factory and designing toys since I was around twelve. |
In 1954, while on a trip to a toy convention in Britain, I met the British toymaker Troels Petersen. During our conversation, he voiced a complaint of his about the toy industry, saying "What an industry this is – no system of any kind whatsoever!" This caught my imagination, and I knew that he was on to something. I worked and thought hard to bring a system to the toy industry, and broke down the critical aspects a system of play should have. After closely analyzing all of the products, I decided that LEGO would be the best candidate for a toy to make a system out of. Over time, I focused the company's efforts solely on the brick, and the system it was a part of, and phased out other products that would now only serve as distractions from my goal.
You can learn more about the system in play and its significance in the achievements section. |
1958: Clients of the newly established sales subsidiary in Germany had complaints about LEGO bricks falling apart. After being appointed Managing Director of LEGO the year before, I addressed them by perfecting the design of the LEGO brick, adding tubes to the underside to give it clutch power. On my way home from my first visit to the patent office, I decided to add one final tube in the middle and take advantage of the opportunity for more interlocking strength.
Learn more about the brick and its patent in the achievements section. 1960: After part of the woodworking factory burnt down, I made the decision to cease all wood production, and focus solely on plastic, eventually phasing out all plastic production besides the brick. Plastic toys had the most potential and were also the only toys we sold outside Denmark.
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