Four things you never knew about LEGO…
Posted by Huw,
Here is another article on the early years of LEGO history written by Gary Istok:
In doing my 7 years of research on LEGO sets and parts, I have uncovered many LEGO secrets that have been obscured by the corrosive effect of time, as well as gleaned from the sparse archival information kept by the company over the years.
Some of this nearly lost information has been obtained via discussions with old time employees, and other items have been found via studying the old retailer and customer LEGO catalogs and documents. Here is a list of a few (out of hundreds) of the topics that have been unearthed over the years, and are being documented in my current and future updates to my Unofficial LEGO Sets/Parts Collectors Guide, as desktop download.
Early wooden box sets
Wooden box LEGO sets were produced by TLG from 1957 until 1977. These very interesting sets were produced in an endless number of box designs and contents. Although these were produced as basic sets for children, some of these sets were also produced as institutional sets for Kindergartens and School use. And recently it came to light that in 1950s and 1960s these sets were also marketed to Barber Shops and Beauty Parlors, as a way to entice parents to bring their children along. So while the parent was being tended to for their grooming needs, the children were lulled into quiet play time.
Just how successful this marketing approach was, is not known today. But it is certain that some beauty parlors and barber shops did indeed have these sturdy wooden box sets for child play time. And what better way to introduced new households to LEGO toys, than via a local hair salon.
A 1960-65 Austrian 700 Wooden Box Set “with contents”. This set had many of the parts to build houses, vehicles, and other constructions. This box contained 22 partitions.
Philips corporation promotional items
Starting around 1960, TLG produced several promotional LEGO items to promote their product brand. The details of the collaboration between TLG and Philips Corporation of Eindhoven Netherlands remains a mystery today, but there were some LEGO items produced as a Philips promotion, as well as regular LEGO parts that just had the Philips brand name.
The most common Philips branded LEGO elements were the 1x6 and 1x8 printed bricks with the Philips name and logo. These were produced from 1960-66. Also produced were the 1:87 Philips Mercedes Semi-Trailer Trucks, and also the 1:87 Philips VW Vans.
This VW Van with the Philips logo was a promotional item produced by TLG for the Philips corporation. Unfortunately, we don’t know the exact nature of how this LEGO 1:87 vehicle was distributed by Philips. Also seen in this LEGO Town Plan scene is a 1x8 Philips printed brick with the Philips logo. 1x6 and 1x8 Philips bricks were produced by TLG and distributed in the Printed Bricks spare parts packs of the 1960s.
Early Maersk models
When folks think of the first Maersk LEGO ship, they naturally think of the crown jewel of promotional LEGO sets, the 1650 Maersk Line Container Set of 1974, which introduced Maersk blue LEGO elements.
However, the first Maersk ship by TLG was produced many years earlier, and was only available to continental European retailers, as a glued display model in 1959-60. This was the 0751 Regina Maersk LEGO model, named after the very first Maersk blue hulled ship of that name launched in 1955 from the Odense Denmark shipyards.
The Regina Maersk LEGO ship glued display model was 60cm long, longer than the later 1650 Maersk Line Container Ship. Because the Maersk blue color was not yet in production back in 1959-60, the glued model was made from regular blue bricks. Ironically there are no known surviving models of this first LEGO ship, although likely many hundreds were produced.
The first LEGO Maersk ship model, the 0751 Regina Maersk glued display model, was found in a small 1959-60 glued display model retailer catalog (left). This same ship model, but built with modern parts, stickers and Maersk blue parts (above).
The first Shell station set
Today the LEGO/Shell corporate connection is being criticized by many environmentalists worldwide. However most of those folks don’t realize that ties between the two companies goes back over 60 years, to the 1950s when large 1:43 Shell Tanker Trucks were sold in Denmark and Norway.
However, it was not until 1966 that the LEGO System of Play had the first Shell Service Station set, the 325. Until that year Esso was the service station of choice for LEGO, but that all changed in 1966 with the 325 set, one of the most interesting LEGO sets ever produced. This set was never sold in the USA or Canada, but it was sold in enough different countries, to warrant extensive documentation on all the different variations in the box design, as well as the parts.
Some of the parts in this set, such as the garage doors, and window types, were found in no other sets. One of the reasons for some of the different parts covering the 1966-70 time frame that this set was produced, had to do with the fact that the Shell company was undergoing a redesign of its’ corporate logo, and these changes were reflected back into changes for some of the set parts.
The first LEGO Shell Station, the 325 set of 1966-70 came in many different part variations, such as 2 variations of garage doors, 2 variations of Shell signs, 4 variations of Shell gas pumps, and 6 variations of the Shell tanker.
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Gary Istok is a world renown expert on LEGO who has published a 2000-page LEGO Collectors' guide, which can be purchased and downloaded from here. You can also download a sample chapter.
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16 comments on this article
Interesting. I can see LEGO making a minifigure-scale Shell oil station right now though that could be more controversial.
Is that a church in the 1959-60 glued display model retailer catalog (bottom right)?
@Galactus
I think it's supposed to be an old-style school building.
Mr. Istok has produced an incredible guide. If the sample chapter is representative of the rest of it, then I'm hooked! I've already sent the link to my family for a great Christmas gift idea!
I think if LEGO makes a gas station today it will be their 'line': Octan. Solves having to buy licensing.
Once again great article.
I live in the region of Eindhoven, i would like to have the Philips set!
I didn't know that about the Maersk ship. Cool. The other factoids are less interesting for me.
Neat article, it amazes me how much the brand has evolved in its lifetime.
great info :)
I love these articles. Please keep them coming Huw! I think the book will go on my Christmas wish list too.
@DarthWalle You're right these articles are Cray cray awesomeness:D :D
Thanks for all the kind words folks!! That building in the glued display model catalog is indeed a LEGO church model. For more information on all LEGO church models, including an actual LEGO Church Set, see here:
http://www.bricksetforum.com/discussion/17323/lego-church-set
That large white PHILIPS building from Eindhoven is the famous "Witte Dame" or "White Lady"... a very famous Dutch office building.
I was lucky enough to find one of the wooden box sets on a market
Stall even had very early minifigs very cool find
I knew some of this stuff.
very interesting indeed...
the Lego wooden boxes seem lovely, but what does the fact that its wooden has to do with barbers?
Even a seriously obsessed TFOL lego nerd didn't know about any of these!Thx!