These are the basic brick sets sold in North America by Samsonite, the luggage maker, which held the LEGO licence there from 1961. Samsonite made the ordinary bricks itself, first at its factory in Stratford, Ontario, while the special parts came over from Billund, and in 1965 it opened a plant in Loveland, Colorado, used only for LEGO.
1961 LEGO Sets
1961 marked LEGO’s formal entry into North America through a licensing agreement with Samsonite, granting exclusive rights to manufacture and distribute LEGO in the United States and Canada. The first ‘LEGO by Samsonite’ sets reached U.S. stores that year. LEGO Italy was also established, extending the brand’s European network. On the product side, LEGO introduced the first wheels and received a U.S. patent for its stud-and-tube brick design, laying the foundation for its global system standard.