When was ole kirk christiansen

He also got married around the same time to Kirstine Sorensen, the daughter of a cheese maker from Norway. The couple had 4 children; Johannes, Karl, Godtfred and Gerhardt. Kirstine died after the birth of the fourth child which left Ole with four children to raise on his own. In , while Karl and Godtfred were playing with some wood shavings, they accidentally set fire to the workshop as a result of which the factory and house both burned down.

Ole drew up plans to rebuild both and moved his family into one room, while renting out the others. The fire is almost too much to handle for Ole Kirk. I struggled to get a grasp of the situation but I had to pause for a moment and kneel to God. It was my thanks to him who knows all things, and it gave me peace and quiet in my mind. Ole Kirk almost abandons the idea of rebuilding the factory. He receives a number of offers from other parts of Denmark to build a factory but finally decides to remain in Billund, thereby securing the jobs of his 15 employees.

With the assistance of a bank loan and support of family and employees, the first dedicated toy factory is built at the site of the old woodworking factory. By the end of the year production has resumed, and by the following year the company is employing 40 people.

The Company continued to expand producing plastic toys. These bricks were based in part on the Kiddicraft Self-Locking Bricks, which were patented in the United Kingdom by Hilary Fisher Page in and then released in The blocks snapped together, but not so tightly that they required extraordinary effort to be separated.

The name Lego was printed inside every brick. Godtfred was instrumental in launching the Lego system where all elements fit together and can be used in multiple ways. Cousin, Dagny Holm, joins the company in as a model builder and revolutionises this area. That year, founder Christiansen died. Legos continued to gain popularity, with more themed toy sets and building-block variations added all the time. By , offerings included bricks that could form all sorts of buildings, vehicles, and backdrops.

A larger version of the blocks, named DUPLO, was added in and was designed for younger children and toddlers. Over the years, the company added all sorts of themed Lego sets, even robotic building sets branded LEGO Mindstorms, model vehicle kits, and computer games.

Others opened in Windsor, England in and in Carlsbad, California in A fourth park opened in in Gunzburg, Germany. Both the factory and their home burned down. During the early s, Ole's business fell into the Great Depression as its peak rose in Denmark. Ole was able to make items such as Christmas tree stands and toys. His business was becoming slow. The primary income, which was from sales of ladders and ironing boards , was shrinking in demand.

Eventually, Ole had to dismiss his last worker, and his wife died. Ole decided to officially found an unnamed company later to become LEGO in Kristiansen's company began to focus primarily on the production of toys.