Talk:White Spot/Archive 1

First Drive-In?
Local tradition has it that the original White Spot on the southern end of Granville was the first drive-in restaurant anywhere. I'm not prepared to cite this Vancouver-first item unless someone can help me prove that's the case; it's so well-known in local lore, and repeated by Chuck Davis and others ad nauseam, that there's got to be some truth in it.

AFAIK, the standard credit for the first drive-in goes to a Glendale, California restaurant in 1936. White Spot definitely predates that, but there might be some difference in definition involved. S2aitch 00:09, 1 November 2007 (UTC)

Possibly the credit you're citing is one of those "if it didn't happen in America, it didn't happen yet" kinds of things. The White Spot was a drive-in from its opening in 1928, a long time before 1936. Why it took another eight years for the idea to spread to Glendale I wouldn't know. But I suspect the "first drive-in" claim for Glendale has more to do with American chauvinism/nationalism than anything else..Skookum1 19:17, 1 November 2007 (UTC)

Quite possibly. It's a date I've seen in a few different places, but it wouldn't shock me if it was ultimately single-sourced from a corporate history piece. According to the White Spot website, the drive in business actually dates from 1924, when Nat Bailey was running his lunch counter out of the back of a truck, and it's hard to believe that he was the only one in the world running that kind of business around that time. S2aitch 01:10, 2 November 2007 (UTC)

Name source
That's not a very typical White Spot depicted either; more a fancy modern one; and the other bit of lore that's missing here is the "cleanliness" thing also meant no black or Chinese staff, which is why the "white" designation....Skookum1 00:08, 15 July 2006 (UTC)

Skookum, can you site one piece of actual evidence to back up your slanderous and defamatory statement above? This has "Urban Legend" written all over it.

Evidence: "Consider the White Lunch. This famous—but long closed restaurant chain had locations throughout Vancouver. According to Vancouver historian Michael Kluckner, in his book “Remembering Vancouver”, the “white” in restaurant names meant that the kitchen did not hire Chinese cooks. There were other restaurant chains with White in the name." Given Vancouver's long history of racism (see: Hogan's Alley, Komagata Maru, Japanese internment, race riots, anti-Semitic laws in British Properties...) this seems a lot more likely than the (unsourced) claim in the article that Nat Baily thought it a synonym for "clean". 206.116.197.68 07:38, 24 February 2007 (UTC)

That's not "evidence." You're suggesting that because B.C., like every other political jurisdiction on the planet, has had a history of racism that that is enough to convict this restaurant chain...PLEASE!!!

"There were other restaurant chains with White in the name," such as and were's the proof they were racist. "This seems a lot more likely" thanks but "likely" may be good enough for you to convict, but it isn't nearly good enough for me.

Did this historian even level a direct claim at this particular restaurant chain? If yes, what are his sources, are they credable, is he credable, he's a historian and were all supposed to go "well if he says it's true, it must be."


 * Please sign your posts, but sigh, yes, I'm of accord with the view that BC is not the only racist region of the planet, and that BC gets saddled with a lot of blame that is equally deserved elsewhere (and often not at all, but that's a longer story). But in this case, it's an entrenched part of the chain's history, and repeated by others than Kluckner, as well as deeply placed in Vancouver's urban mythology.  In Chuck Davis' Vancouver Book, maybe but I haven't read it; if I had the citation I would have already added it, needless to say.  But it's not just a piece of "racist BC" blame-game, it's a bona fide piece of the public lore about this chain.Skookum1 19:16, 1 November 2007 (UTC)

"it's a bona fide piece of the public lore " people could say the same thing about aliens at Area 54, or the Kennedy's "having" Marilyn Monroe killed, or George Bush being involved in the attack on the World Trade Centre complex. Your "bona fide piece of the public lore" is someone else's baseless gossip or nutty urban myth. It simply doesn't pass the smell test and (baring actual proof) is beneath Wikipedia's standards. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 142.161.165.202 (talk) 07:38, 3 November 2007 (UTC)

I don't find it unlikely that White Spot (like a lot of other Vancouver restaurants) embraced discriminatory hiring practices during its early years, and if a cite can be found it should be added alongside the current explanation (which I believe comes from the company's website). However, it'd probably be best to note that nowadays no such racist policy exists; I can attest to this directly as I work at a White Spot. S2aitch 01:17, 2 November 2007 (UTC)

WP:FOOD Tagging
This article talk page was automatically added with WikiProject Food and drink banner as it falls under Category:Restaurants or one of its subcategories. If you find this addition an error, Kindly undo the changes and update the inappropriate categories if needed. You can find the related request for tagging here -- TinucherianBot (talk) 11:40, 2 July 2008 (UTC)

White Spots in Chevron Stations & BC Ferries
Steven Fisher will probably be happy when he looks & sees that I just added an image of a White Spot inside of a Chevron in Chilliwack, British Columbia. He is correct; there are a lot of Chevron Stations that have White Spots inside of them. That is similar to the relationship that Esso & Tim Hortons seem to have going; there are a lot of Essos out there with Timmys in them. As for White Spots on BC Ferries, next time I'm on the Ferry from Vancouver to Vancouver Island I will hopefully get a shot of the White Spot on it. Then I will put it on the article & give it a similar label to the one I gave to the image (the one of the White Spot in the Chevron) I just posted a few minutes ago. AndrewEnns (talk) 18:06, 17 June 2009 (UTC)

Unchanged Burgers
The article says "their trademark hamburgers are unchanged." Recently, lettuce and tomato have been added and the patty has been made slightly thicker. I don't want to change this because of lack of proper citation. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 208.181.208.52 (talk) 18:47, 16 July 2009 (UTC)

International Locations - Honduras ?
Just had some Fish & Chips at a TripleOh/Chevon in South Van and after filing out a customer survey got some boiler-plate for the sweepstakes they throw-in as incentive. Anyways, they mentioned locations in Korea and Honduras (where they would issue the prize in U$D). I know when I'm feeling stressed from the reality of Honduran street violence, nothing tastes better than a Pirate Pack!

Arrrr. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.244.23.1 (talk) 00:17, 24 February 2013 (UTC)