SLOTTED BRICKS
LEGO started to produce plastic bricks in 1949. The initial design was based on the Kiddicraft "Self Locking Building Bricks" by Hilary Page. LEGO received a sample mould of those Kiddicraft bricks with the first injection-moulding machine that was bought. That design was only patented in a few countries, so LEGO was able to produce similar bricks without legal problems. Only a few minor adjustments were made to the general design. The edges were sharper, the top of the studs were flattened, and in addition to the bricks with two opposite slots a design with a single slot was introduced.
Initially the LEGO bricks were produced in a rainbow of colours and sold under the name "Automatic Binding Bricks".
In 1953 LEGO changed the name of the product line to "LEGO Mursten". New brick sizes were added and the number of colours was reduced.
By 1955 LEGO developed the "System in play" and the product line was renamed again. From now on, all sets and parts supplemented each other instead of being separated items. A key design feature that all LEGO elements share until this day. The sets were modelled around a single theme: town plan.
LEGO kept searching for improvements. New parts and sets were added every year. In 1956 the slotted bricks and the corresponding windows were replaced. The new designs no longer needed the slots and the bricks were replaced by the "hollow bricks". By 1958 LEGO patented a new interlocking system for these bricks and they were replaced by the "bricks with tubes". Care was taken to improve the visual appearance of the bricks.
The LEGO slotted bricks were produced in a few locations:
1) Denmark
2) Sweden (approximately 1950-1954)
3) Norway (1953-1962)
4) Iceland (1955/56? - 1977)
LEGO seems to have controlled the moulds and seems to have rented them to the different companies as a part of the licence agreement. As a result, moulds sometimes moved form one location to the next. Some odd colours or materials that were used prove this. That is why, in some cases, it seems to be impossible to tell where a brick was produced.
SLOTTED BRICKS
LEGO started to produce plastic bricks in 1949. The initial design was based on the Kiddicraft "Self Locking Building Bricks" by Hilary Page. LEGO received a sample mould of those Kiddicraft bricks with the first injection-moulding machine that was bought. That design was only patented in a few countries, so LEGO was able to produce similar bricks without legal problems. Only a few minor adjustments were made to the general design. The edges were sharper, the top of the studs were flattened, and in addition to the bricks with two opposite slots a design with a single slot was introduced.
Initially the LEGO bricks were produced in a rainbow of colours and sold under the name "Automatic Binding Bricks".
In 1953 LEGO changed the name of the product line to "LEGO Mursten". New brick sizes were added and the number of colours was reduced.
By 1955 LEGO developed the "System in play" and the product line was renamed again. From now on, all sets and parts supplemented each other instead of being separated items. A key design feature that all LEGO elements share until this day. The sets were modelled around a single theme: town plan.
LEGO kept searching for improvements. New parts and sets were added every year. In 1956 the slotted bricks and the corresponding windows were replaced. The new designs no longer needed the slots and the bricks were replaced by the "hollow bricks". By 1958 LEGO patented a new interlocking system for these bricks and they were replaced by the "bricks with tubes". Care was taken to improve the visual appearance of the bricks.
The LEGO slotted bricks were produced in a few locations:
1) Denmark
2) Sweden (approximately 1950-1954)
3) Norway (1953-1962)
4) Iceland (1955/56? - 1977)
LEGO seems to have controlled the moulds and seems to have rented them to the different companies as a part of the licence agreement. As a result, moulds sometimes moved form one location to the next. Some odd colours or materials that were used prove this. That is why, in some cases, it seems to be impossible to tell where a brick was produced.