Ole Kirk Christiansen, who founded his workshop in Billund in Denmark in 1932, made wooden toys and furniture. His business was not particularly profitable and he struggled during the early 1930s. In 1934, he shifted to focus on toys, and changed the company’s name to LEGO. This is an abbreviation of „leg godt”, the Danish word meaning „play well”.
The company grew into other Nordic countries in the 1960s. The company came up with a smaller brick, ideal for children with small hands. It was named DUPLO (after the Latin word duplex, which translates to twofold). This enabled children of all ages to construct more intricate models.
In the 1970s Lego began to introduce new features to make its products stand out from the competitors. For example, they added an array of faces to their miniature figures. This made the characters appear more realistic and enabled them to show different facial expressions and emotions. The Lego Group added wheels to their bricks which allowed them to build vehicles and other machines.
The next major step for the company came when it introduced dedicated themes — a system within the system that let users to create a specific world or scenario. This helped the company establish its brand as more recognizable and helped them appeal to an audience that was younger. Additionally the company expanded its production, opening factories in South Korea, Malaysia, and Brazil.
