In 1932 Ole Kirk Christiansen, a carpenter in Denmark, began making wooden toys. The company producing them called itself "Lego", from the phrase, leg godt, which means play well. In 1949, Lego began producing their now-famous interlocking bricks. They were called Automatic Binding Bricks.
These first bricks were made from cellulose acetate and were made like traditional wooden blocks that could be stacked on each other. But these plastic bricks had several round studs on top and a hollow rectangular bottom so they could be locked together, but still be pulled apart.
But the use of plastic to make toys was not very popular with toy buyers at the time and it was thought that plastic toys could never replace wooden ones! Then, in 1958, the modern-day brick design was made and patented.
This year more than 400 million people will play with Lego bricks this year. On average every person in the world owns 62 Lego bricks. About 33,824 Lego bricks are made every minute and it is sold in over 130 countries.
These first bricks were made from cellulose acetate and were made like traditional wooden blocks that could be stacked on each other. But these plastic bricks had several round studs on top and a hollow rectangular bottom so they could be locked together, but still be pulled apart.
But the use of plastic to make toys was not very popular with toy buyers at the time and it was thought that plastic toys could never replace wooden ones! Then, in 1958, the modern-day brick design was made and patented.
This year more than 400 million people will play with Lego bricks this year. On average every person in the world owns 62 Lego bricks. About 33,824 Lego bricks are made every minute and it is sold in over 130 countries.