In the mid-1930s, the yo-yo toy fad gave him a brief period of activity, until it suddenly collapsed. Farmers in the area sometimes traded food in exchange for his toys Ole Kirk found he had to continue producing practical furniture in addition to toys in order to stay in business. He enjoyed a modest amount of success, but families were poor and often unable to afford such toys. In 1932, Ole Kirk's shop started making wooden pull toys, piggy banks, cars and trucks. However, more personal recollections and retellings suggest that when Ole Kirk's carpentry shop was going out of business in 1932, his local social worker suggested or otherwise encouraged him to make toys.)įour early LEGO wood toys with a later LEGO brick.
Various literature appears to be to the contrary, implying that Ole Kirk actively decided to move on to toy manufacture. (Note: According to a LEGO employee in Denmark, Ole Kirk's move to toy production was actually inspired by the government, rather than self-motivated. It was these miniature stepladders and ironing boards that inspired him to begin producing toys.
In finding ways to minimize production costs, Ole Kirk began producing miniature versions of his products as design aids. Undaunted, Ole Kirk took the disaster as an opportunity to construct a larger workshop, and worked towards expanding his business even further however, the Great Depression would soon have an impact on his livelihood. His workshop burned down in 1924 when a fire, lit by two of his young sons, ignited some wood shavings. He earned his living by constructing houses and furniture for farmers in the region, with the help of a small staff of apprentices. In 1916, Christiansen bought a woodworking shop in Billund which had been in business since 1895. The word LEGO is a contraction of two Danish words leg and godt meaning play well. The LEGO Group had humble beginnings, starting in the workshop of Ole Kirk Christiansen, a carpenter from Billund, Denmark.
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