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You've probably seen one of these,

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a Lego Brick.

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But have you ever wondered how it all started

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and why it's called Lego?

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Actually, the name is much older than this plastic brick.

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Are you curious?

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Let me tell you how it all began.

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Many years ago

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there was a skilled and hard-working carpenter named [br]Ole Kirk Christiansen.

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Ole was a respected carpenter with his own company,

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but times were hard. [br]So he didn't have much money

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and had to dismiss his last worker.

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Ole: "Come on in".

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Worker: "I have closed down the workshop and packed my things".

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Ole: "Thank you. I suppose I'd better write you a paycheck".

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Ole: "Take care."

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Ole: "Well, that was the last one.

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I just didn't imagine that it would come to this".

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Wife: "I know. It's hard to understand, [br]but at least now it can't get much worse."

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But it did get worse. [br]Shortly after, Ole lost his wife.

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But Ole was a special person.

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He wasn't the type that gave up.

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And with the responsibility of his four sons, [br]he had to think of something.

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Ole had gotten an idea

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and for him, [br]it never took long to put an idea into action.

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Ole's little invention made his boys so happy that he thought maybe he should start making toys.

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Ole decided to give it a try.

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Luckily, he had saved up a lot of wood from the carpentry production.

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He could now use it to make toys.

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Time passed by

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and even though Ole was a skilled carpenter and had a good eye for quality and detail,

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sales were very slow.

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Luckily, one of his sons, Godtfred, started helping out his dad after school.

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Together, they just barely managed to keep up the production.

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Eventually, word began to spread that the wooden toys of the finest quality were being made from that little workshop in Billund.

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One day, a man drove into town.

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A man who would change Ole's future.

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He was a wholesaler from factory shop.

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'I heard that you are making some very nice wooden toys'

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Ole: 'Well, one does his best'.

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The wholesaler was very impressed with all the wooden toys.

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And placed update order before he left.

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Ole: 'Now there's finally someone who can see the opportunities and what we are doing'

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'Look at this. The wholesaler wants to put a lot of our toys into his store for the holidays

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it's going to be a good Christmas this year

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that will be busy".

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Now, there was a lot to do with the little workshop

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and Ole could rehire his former workers.

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Ole only used the highest quality wood

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which was hand-picked and very carefully prepared

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They worked day and night to get the order finished

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So the wholesaler could get the toys out in stores before Christmas.

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Godtfred: "Is there something wrong, Dad?"

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Ole: "I'm afraid that we are in big trouble".

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In the middle of their work, Ole received a letter saying that the wholesaler had filed for bankruptcy

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and couldn't buy the toys that he had ordered

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Godtfred: "What are you gonna do? What about Christmas?

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Now we can't even afford food?"

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Ole: "I'll do it".

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Godtfred: "What are you gonna do, Dad?"

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Ole: "I'll do it myself. I'll drive around selling the toys"

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There was no time to lose. Ole packed the car with all the toys and drove off.

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Ole was a very good toy-maker but was not a very good salesman.

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He didn't like praising himself or talking about how carefully the toys have been made

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but he had to keep trying

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Ole: "This is going to be a blast. Is there anything you were interested in?"

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'It looks exciting but i don't have a lot of money right now. Maybe we could trade in and call it even.'

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Ole: "Well, i would prefer money"

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'but'

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In the end, he succeeded in selling all the toys.

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He didn't receive as much money as he had hoped. But the family managed and they had plenty of food for Christmas

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Time passed by

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But the toys didn't sell as quickly as they had expected

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Ole thought perhaps the company needed a good name

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'What should it be? It has to be short word. I wanted to convey playing well'

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In Danish, `playing well` is called `LEG GODT`

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'What should it be? What should it be?'

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'If only i could get some sort of a sign'

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'LEGO'

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As you can see, Ole himself ended up finding a very suitable name.

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But what he didn't know was that in latin, [br]the word 'LEGO' means 'I put together'

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The name 'LEGO' was well received.

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And the company slowly started to move forward.

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Godtfred: "We have made 3000 krones this year. And we have models than usual"

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Ole: "Did you say 3000 krones. Then you need to see what i've been looking at"

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Even though Godtfred wasn't comfortable spending money on a milling machine.

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He could see that it was useful and that the quality of the toys improved

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'Could you finish the last batch and get it ready for shipping?'

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'I will'

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'Dad.... dad, i received a lot of money for the company today'

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Ole: "Really? how?"

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Godtfred: "I figured we could save money in the locker. It's like only coated the duck twice instead of three times"

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Ole: "You what?"

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Unfortunately, Godtfred's idea didn't go over well with Ole.

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Ole made Godtfred unpacked all the ducks himself

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gave them the last layer of letter and bring them back to train station.

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Ole believes in high quality and not cheating his customers

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when Godtfred returned, Ole explained that wasn't the way to create a good brand.

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This little lesson opened Godtfred's eyes to the fact that every detail matters

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and only the best is good enough.

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In the late 1930s, LEGO was making a profit even when the second world war broke out.

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They tried to make the best out of a difficult time.

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It seemed nothing could go wrong.

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But a stormy night in 1942 changed their luck.

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'There's a fire. The workshop is on fire.'

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But when the firemen arrived, they were unable to save the workshop

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it burned to the ground and all the drawings and models were destroyed.

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Ole was beginning to lose hope.

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All that he had worked for was gone and he almost lost his company

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but being responsible for his children and workers inspired him to rebuild LEGO

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A new factory was constructed

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Soon the production of the wooden toys started again

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The little company fought it way back into the market

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Gradually, the LEGO factory began to run smoothly and Ole started looking for new challenges

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One day, he went to Copenhagen to look at a new machine that had just arrived in Denmark.

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It was a plastic moulding machine and Ole was very excited about it

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Ole: "Should we buy it? i'm sure it's a good bargain and it would give us a lot of opportunity"

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Godtfred: "Well, it does sound interesting but it is a lot of money"

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Ole: "I'll take that as a Yes"

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When the plastic moulding machine finally arrived, Ole started making little plastic teddy bears and letters.

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But he still had the plastic brick that he had received at the fair.

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There was something about that he couldn't stop thinking about.

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And even though no one else could see the potential in them.

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Ole decided to redesigned and put them into production.

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But it was when LEGO first launched the great Ferguson tractor, that the plastic toys became a success.

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Unfortunately the sales were dropped during the summer

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and the company had too many toys in stock.

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Godtfred: "This can't be right. Of course, our products can be sold the whole year, not only for Christmas"

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Godtfred decided that he would go out and sell the toys himself.

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Godtfred brought his wife as a company and moral support

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"If you can't ### We need butter and eggs"

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Well, it wasn't that bad.

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Godtfred was a success in his trip around the country which helped LEGO to get out of its financial crisis.

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They reached home just in time for Ole's birthday party.

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Ole turned 60 and the whole family was gathered to celebrate with him.

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Ole: "Well, it isn't ####"

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"Hey, I got an idea. Eh, listen. Listen. What about a picture with the three generations"

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Everyone thought that was a good idea. And we were placed on the sofa with all the presents and flowers around us.

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On a business trip to England, Godtfred met the head of a big shopping center on his way home.

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They discussed the toy industry. And the conversation would be very important to the future of LEGO.

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"Damn that industry. I just think that toys are no good nowadays"

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Godtfred: "What do you mean? I think they are working very well".

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"Oh, they work fine. Sure, but there's no system in anything"

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Godtfred: "System?".

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Godtfred: "System? Hmm. There isn't any system".

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Ole: "What in the world are you doing, Godtfred?"

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Godtfred: "There isn't any system.

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The toys need an idea and a system built around it.

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I want to put system in the play. Children have only been offered ready-made solutions.

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They need something different that will strengthen their imagination and creativity".

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Ole: "So, you are trying to put LEGO into a system? Interesting".

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That same year, LEGO started producing the first LEGO system of play.

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Children could now build houses from the LEGO bricks.

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The town planned gave play a realistic town setting and with this, children learned about traffic safety.

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My sister and I could play with the new LEGO system for hours.

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Some people said we were the luckiest children in the world.

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Because we grew up in a toy factory.

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It was a huge breakthrough.

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And Godtfred decided to try selling it outside of Denmark.

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The system of play was so popular that they managed to sell it to many countries.

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"Look what I just built".

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"That is really nice, Cal".

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Even though LEGO was meant for only building houses, there was still a lot of opportunities.

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There was just one problem.

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"Hmm, I can't lift it up. It keeps falling apart".

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That made Godtfred wondered. He wanted to find a way to make the LEGO bricks stick together.

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But that was easier said than done.

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Godtfred noticed that the LEGO bricks got a better clutch powers with tooth inside.

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Now, it was no longer just bricks but a whole construction system with endless possibilities.

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This was ground breaking for the LEGO product.

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With a child's imagination, LEGO could be anything in the world over and over again.

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The imagination is the limit.

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"Look, Dad. Now, I can build everything"

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Unfortunately, Ole never got to see how successful the little bricks actually became.

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Godtfred was left on his own and he had to go through another fire at LEGO that destroyed most of the wood production.

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Just like his father, Godtfred knew that he had to try to get the best out of any situation and never give up.

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Godtfred took the hard times with his head held high.

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As sales grew, the company also got bigger.

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He had to think ahead and he decided not to resume the production of wooden toys and to only focus on the LEGO system.

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And it turned out to be great decision. Many new models were built and LEGO got stronger in the toy industry.

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Staff: "Sir, which one of these do you think is the best?"

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Godtfred: "Hmmm, Err, that one".

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Even though it got busier at LEGO, Godtfred still had bigger plans.

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Now, he wanted to build an airport.

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So, it would be easier to sell his toys to the whole world.

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Like father, like son.

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It didn't take long to put his ideas into action.

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Only three years later, Billund airport was opened.

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Then many guests and business connections who visited the company always wanted to see their modeling department.

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Gradually, it got so crowded that it was hard for the employees to keep up their work.

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Godtfred: "I think we'd better wait a while".

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Godtfred could see that something had to be done.

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He needed a bigger place to display the LEGO models.

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Employee: "Er, I don't want to interrupt. So, I'll just put this package of our new LEGO train on the table".

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Godtfred: "Jut put it there".

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The idea grew quickly from an exhibition room to an amusement park.

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Godtfred: "And then, we could have a tower so you could look over the whole park from above, the whole town. It would be land made out of LEGO, LEGO land".

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"Well then, it looks interesting. But how many visitors are you actually counting on?"

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"Well, i guess eh two hundred three hundred thousand".

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"Three hundred thousand?"

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Even though it sounded like a lot, my dad was actually pretty far off the mark.

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There were six hundred thousand guests the very first year.

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My family and I were there to greet the guests.

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We've kept up this tradition ever since.

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Now, you know how it all began.

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LEGO wouldn't be what it is today if it hadn't been for my grandfather's sense of quality and search for profession.

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My father firmly believed in the endless possibilities of the LEGO system.

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I seek to take the LEGO idea even further.

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Encouraging children to explore, experience and express their own world, a world without limit.

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And we are still convince that only the best is good enough because children deserve the best.