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.
1964 LEGO Sets
1964 brought major innovations in both product and presentation. LEGO introduced full-color instruction manuals with isometric diagrams, replacing box-top model photos and ushering in the modern instruction format. The first new Basic sets, 040 and 050, replaced the long-running 700/x series, expanding scale and part variety. LEGO also opened a manufacturing facility in Hohenwestedt, Germany, strengthening European production. That same year, LEGO appeared at the New York World’s Fair within Denmark’s national pavilion, featuring exclusive promotional sets.