A German manufacturer of "ideas for friends", best known for its snow globes, but more recently for its cute yet functional housewares. Bernhard Koziol Sr. founded the company in Erbach, a town in the Odenwald Forest, in 1927. Soon after, he began working with plastic. Developments in plastic injection molding in the mid 30s led to the development of the "Dream Globe", in 1951. The company was the leading manufacturer of snow globes for a time, and continues to make them today. In 1982, brothers Bernhard Koziol Jr. and Stephan Koziol took control of the company and changed the focus of the products to things more oriented towards contemporary culture and design. As of 1999, the company employed about 200 people, and is distributed worldwide.1
The Koziol product line includes things like toilet brushes, dental floss dispensers, bookmarks, bottle openers, corkscrews, staplers, tape dispensers, cheese keepers, kitchen implements, thermometers, doorstops, snow globes, and many other things. The products are made almost entirely out of brightly colored translucent and opaque plastic, except where necessary for strength or function. Although the products look silly, from their colors and anthropomorphic shapes, they generally function very well. Koziol has proved that it is possible to make things that look good and work well at a reasonable price. Think Alessi for people who can't afford a $70 citrus juicer.
1. In the USA in fancy gift shops like Chiasso and also at places like Target and Bed, Bath, & Beyond.
2. Source www.koziol.de