Samsonite was an American manufacturer of LEGO sets which introduced the very first USA LEGO catalog for Christmas of 1961. LEGO and Samsonite created a partnership to produce and sell LEGO in the US. The result was a 9-year license for exclusive North American distribution rights. Samsonite began marketing sets under the name LEGO by Samsonite in the US in 1961 and Canada in 1962.
1964 LEGO Sets
In 1964 LEGO expanded production and built a plant in Hohenwehenstedt, Germany. Also, LEGO introduced the 1x1 round brick with square tapered bottom and the first LEGO sets containing instruction manuals were introduced. In 1964 LEGO released the first of a new series of basic sets. These sets were larger, reflecting the new scale of the system, and packaged in an updated box design. The 040 and 050 sets were released in 1964 and were followed by four additional sets the next year. It marked the end of the venerable 700/x series, which had been introduced 15 years earlier.