# Distelfink

> Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Distelfink
> Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Distelfink.md
> Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Distelfink
> Source revision: 1226678614
> License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/)

{{short description|Bird motif in visual art}}
thumb|250px|right|An ornate Taufschein, or baptismal certificate, bordered by two distelfinksA '''distelfink''' is a stylized goldfinch, probably based on the [European variety](/source/European_Goldfinch).<ref>{{cite book |title=American native paintings |last=Chotner |first=Deborah |year=1992 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=US |isbn= 978-0-521-44301-2|page=491 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=X8jZjI-neDQC&dq=distelfink+%22european+goldfinch%22&pg=RA1-PA491 |accessdate=2009-11-29}}</ref>  It frequently appears in [Pennsylvania Dutch](/source/Pennsylvania_Dutch) [folk art](/source/folk_art).<ref>[http://www.merriam-webster.com/cgi-bin/dictionary?book=Dictionary&va=distelfink Distelfink definition]</ref>  It represents happiness and good fortune and the [Pennsylvania German](/source/Pennsylvania_German) people, and is a common theme in [hex sign](/source/hex_sign)s and in [fraktur](/source/Fraktur_(Pennsylvania_German_folk_art)).  The word ''distelfink'' (literally 'thistle-finch') is (besides ''Stieglitz'') the German name for the [European goldfinch](/source/European_goldfinch).<ref>{{cite book |title=The distelfink country of the Pennsylvania Dutch |last=Jordan |first=Mildred |year=1978 |publisher=Crown Publishers |isbn=0-517-53260-3 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/distelfinkcountr00jord }}</ref>

==In popular culture==
During the 1940s, variations of Distelfink birds with flowers, hearts and tulips became popular designs for crochet, pottery and wallpaper patterns.<ref>"[https://www.newspapers.com/image/557503312/ U.S. Folk-lore Used in New Wallpaper]." Lancaster, Pennsylvania: ''Intelligencer Journal'', April 22, 1943, p. 1 (subscription required).</ref>

Distelfink was adopted as the name for a chain of drive-in restaurants serving [Pennsylvania Dutch](/source/Pennsylvania_Dutch) food that became popular across Pennsylvania during the twentieth century. Sandoe's Distelfink, which was located in [Gettysburg](/source/Gettysburg%2C_Pennsylvania), which was built by Cecil Sandoe in 1954, was patronized by a number of prominent Americans, including former [first lady of the United States](/source/First_Lady_of_the_United_States) [Mamie Eisenhower](/source/Mamie_Eisenhower) and Baltimore Orioles baseball star [Brooks Robinson](/source/Brooks_Robinson).<ref>Reed, Lillian. "[https://www.eveningsun.com/story/news/2018/03/09/its-heyday-distelfink-drive-served-celebrities/410025002/ In its heyday, Distelfink Drive-in served celebrities]." Hanover, Pennsylvania: ''Evening Sun'', March 9, 2018.</ref>

thumb|upright=1.2|A European Goldfinch on a thistle
In the story "[The Sign of the Triple Distelfink](/source/The_Sign_of_the_Triple_Distelfink)", the American [cartoonist](/source/cartoonist) [Don Rosa](/source/Don_Rosa) used a ''triple distelfink'' [hex sign](/source/hex_sign) as the origin for [Gladstone Gander](/source/Gladstone_Gander)'s remarkable luck.

==Notes==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*[http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~aferm/images/singdistle.gif Example of a distelfink]

Category:American art
Category:German-American culture in Pennsylvania
Category:Pennsylvania Dutch culture
Category:Visual motifs

---
Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Distelfink](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Distelfink) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Distelfink?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.