Beautiful, absolutely gorgeous Fall color on the Bluffs of Guttenberg today!
Take a drive and see for yourself.....and while you're in  our area please
come take a peek at the beauty inside Kann Imports!!

We are expecting the great color to last through the weekend!!!!

Maintaining your own website is hard work!  We spend many hours on our own: www.kannimports.com.

We try to show only items that are currently available in our store.
When it is sold it comes off the website! Bingo
However, sometimes we see things that we like and just don't have the display space in the store so
we can't show them on the website.
We found some musically designed suncatchers that are special.  We couldn't help but
share them with you;

These are large suncatchers with an average length of 27-30 inches.

The colors are stunning and with a light shining through they are beautiful!

Cost is about $120 each.

Do you like them too?  Give us a call 

The mystery of those Royal Copenhagen plates was too intriguing.  We kept searching. And we found a very logical interesting story.

Royal Copenhagen porcelain actually made plates specifically for different countries, during and after World War II, using the words like "weihnachten" on some plates, "noel" on others, "kerstmis" on others, and "vanoce" on others directed for sale in that country.  By 1952, their market was heavily influenced by the U.S. and the need to standardize their design was quite apparent.

They decided to remove all words except the date.  Thus, after 1952, they changed the design to include only the date in their design at the bottom of their Christmas plate design.

Mystery solved. See some of their other plates right here.
http://www.kannimports.com/danish_plates/all_danish_plates.html

Be careful of that old stuff you have in the attic. It might not seem worth while to you but it could be to someone else. Take for instance this old cane.  I watched that ol' cane in our attic for years, never knowing why Dad saved it.  Well, come to find out, it was carved bamboo.  Did you ever try to carve bamboo?  It's the hardest darn stuff to put a knife to. And then bend it for a loop at the top!!!?!

Dad told me years later he brought this cane home from China YEARS ago. Never had to use it. And now it's too precious to use. I just look at it and relish all the old memories.

I have more of that story of his trip to China way back in 1927 in one of our Kann Booklets called "Our Story".
You can link to it for easy reading right here.  http://www.kannimports.com/brochures/a_kann_story_complete.pdf

Happy times and fond regards from Barbara

The most interesting episode happened this afternoon. A customer called to double check the Royal Copenhagen Christmas plates they have been receiving from us every year.  They were changing their display of plates in their house and Dad noticed that the 1952 Christmas plate displayed the word "JUL" in between the numbers of the year at the bottom of the plate.  The 1952 Royal Copenhagen Christmas plate is called "the Feeding Place for the Deer Herd in the Deer Garden outside Copenhagen" or "Christmas in the Forest". It was designed by Kai Lange who designed for many years with Royal Copenhagen.

Now we have to understand that our customer is not a youngster so Dad must be a few years older.  BUT it was Dad who noticed this slight change.

In 1953, the Royal Copenhagen company did NOT use the word "JUL" in between the year number at the bottom of the plate.  The 1953 Christmas Plate by Royal Copenhagen is called "Frederiksborg Castle" and was designed by Theodor Kjolner. The company only made the announcement with no reason for the change, but such a slight change and so significant.

It was nice to get our customers call this afternoon. I'm curious also. I wonder why they decided to make that change that year............mystery will continue.

I can't think of anything nicer to talk about right now than the meeting we shared with the Our Iowa "Lucky i" winner, Betty.  She was a spritely 92 years old, sharp as a tack, attractive, and so pleased to be a winner.  She was a REAL winner, all the way around. She lives in a lovely little apartment and read that Our Iowa magazine from cover to cover and then again.  

We unwrapped her prize together: four BirchHeart Snowmen. We selected them special cause they were so cute.  "Building Friendships" (we sure did that afternoon) "Friends are Special" (they sure are) "Love keeps a family warm" and "Hug my Heart".  See them right here http://www.kannimports.com/birchheart/all_birchheart.html

Hey, we're just having fun with this blogging experience.