Only known LEGO box image of Godtfred Kirk Christiansen...

Istokg

A few years ago I discovered a little secret (that is in the LEGO DVD chapter on LEGO Artwork/Family Images)....

That is that Kjeld Kirk Kristiansen's father was only ever once on a LEGO box top... but that was so long ago that practically everyone at the LEGO company forgot...

This was for the 1956-58 German and 1957-58 Austrian spare parts pack box tops. The folks at TLG took an old image showing Godtfred standing next to his 3 children and newphew... and they had an outside company redo the artwork so that Godtfred's image was transformed into a policeman's image. Godtfred wore glasses, but the reworked image had the glasses removed, and a police hat and uniform added.

Since the LEGO photography department was not established until 1959, this transformation was done by an outside company circa late 1955 or early 1956 (LEGO sales in Germany started in March 1956, and in Austria in late 1957).

The black/white original image shows (left to right) Godtfred, his son Kjeld, his nephew Jorgen (whom Godtfred has his hand on his shoulder), his older daughter Gunhild, and his younger daughter Hanne.

Just one of the many little secrets my LEGO DVD uncovers....

Cheers,
Gary Istok

P.S. Kjeld, Gunhild and Hanne were on all parts pack and basic set box tops from 1953-60. Cousin Jorgen... only on a few... Not sure what has become of cousin Jorgen today... but Hanne died tragically in a 1969 car crash on the way to see a movie at a nearby cinema, and so today Kjeld Kirk Kristiansen and his sister Gunhild Christiansen Johansen are the principal owners of Kirkbi A/S, the holding company that owns TLG.

BillDeen

Cool pic!

Istokg

Thanks Bill!

The parts pack boxes of the other LEGO countries at the time (Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Belgium, Netherlands and Switzlerland) also had a policeman on it... but a different man... namely the Billund traffic policeman (small town, small force!).

This "real" policeman had a black uniform, without any "image touchup".

Here are 2 images... one is of a 1955 Danish parts pack box, showing the Billund policeman with young Kjeld, cousin Jorgen, and Kjeld's sister Gunhild. Since the kids look the same, this image dates to the same time as the image on the German language parts pack boxes.

The 2nd image (from my LEGO DVD - Chapter 3 - LEGO Town Plan System) shows the same people but in a different pose. This image is in color, taken outdoors in BIllund in 1955. What makes this image very interesting is the Esso Service Station. It shows a gas station with 2 gray garage doors. These doors were prototypes, since the garage doors of the 1955-63 era were only produced in either red or white.

These gray garage doors are today unknown in any collection... not even the Billund LEGO Collection. If I had a list of LEGO "crown jewels" of early parts... besides very rare 1:87 LEGO cars/trucks with metal wheels, I would place these gray garage doors at the top of my rare part list.

brickmatic

Cool pics! But are you sure that the picture on the box is Godtfred and not someone else composited with the kids? Also, does your DVD have a family tree of the Christiansen family?