The idea of IKEA began in 1935 in the small province of southern Sweden, Smaland, where the people are known for their hard work and for making the most from very little means. Ingvar Kamprad, a nine-year-old boy with a strong entrepreneurial spirit, began by selling fish and Christmas decorations to those in the local community. By age 17, using a gift of money from his father, Kamprad established the company IKEA. Kamprad created the name IKEA by combining his initials, the initials of his hometown farm, and the initials of a nearby village. During that period he sold everything from pens to gadgets to stockings, and within a short time he was able to put together a mail- order catalog. By 1947 Kamprad decided to introduce home furnishings to the product mix and by 1951 eliminated all other products lines, focusing solely on the home furniture market.