We picked up this Dana-plast nutcracker from Atomic for $20. Designed by Stig Jorgensen.

John’s mom found us this Jens Quistgaard flamestone casserole dish with white enamel interior.

In perfect condition!

She also found us this cool French cheese grater. Mmm…it’s making me want some French Onion Soup!

Teak toys, that is.

Woah! Kitka reader Kyle just sent us a photo of a bunch of recently purchased mid-century wooden toys. All but the two Kristian Vedel birds are by Kay Bojesen. Great collection!

Kyle also found a Nissen Langaa Teak Wine Rack in amazing condition for only $25!

Thanks for sharing Kyle! I’ve never seen the hippo before!

Kitka readers Noah and Christie sent us this great pic of their front porch, feauturing a pair of their beautiful vintage Solair chairs.

They also have a great Etsy shop selling a lot of cool Mid Century Items, even beautiful Dansk & Cathrineholm frying pans. I am very tempted.

Check out their Etsy store: Beggarsandchoosers

We were just walking back from brunch on Canada Day and had to snap a pic of this red Kobenstyle pot serving as a dog water dish. This particularly cute house has a little bench out front (with a plaque dedicated to local hero “Honest” Ed Mirvish), a can for butts and an ever present dog water bowl. We aren’t sure if they know what they are doing with this Kobenstyle (sacrilige?) but at least they had the foresight to chain it to their bench! And you know what, this random bench actually does see some use. Ahhh community.

In the spirit of Canada day, we’re bringing you another installment of Kitka’s Canadian Design History 101. Today we’ll be talking about Lotte lamps, something I’ve been wanting to share with you for a while now.

Lotte lamps were created by the Bostlund family. The father Gunnar was a ceramic engineer, and the mother Lotte trained at the Royal Academy of fine arts and the Danish school of arts and crafts, and was the primary designer behind Bostlund lamps.

The Danish family moved to Canada after a fire destoryed their ceramics business in 1952. Rebuilding in post war Europe was a daunting task, so the family moved to Oakridge Ontario, where most of the early and most notable models were created and produced.

Most of the lamp bases were hand painted or hand carved by Lotte herself or others in the family. Their son Morton was the one who created the iconic fiberglass shade that completed the look of Lotte Lamps.

Lotte lamps were sold across the continent, most notably available at the famous Georg Jensen store in NYC (pictured above). Another iconic display of politics and modern design was during a live television broadcast of Pierre Trudeau in 1970, when he announced the War Measures Act sitting next to a Lotte Light.

Lotte lights are still in production today and available new at Eyespy on Queen St East, and there are usually vintage ones hanging around at Atomic or Rogue Gallery.

Photos via Lotte Lamps.