Arely Montelongo

Mr. Skipper

Encounters 7

March 5, 2023

Burt Baskin & Irv Robbins

Introduction

 People all over the world love ice cream and the kinds of flavors there are. Ice cream is delicious, especially on hot summer days when you can go outside and enjoy some delicious ice cream. Ice cream goes a long way in time. For example, Burt Baskin and Irv Robbins created 31 ice cream flavors, more than any other ice cream business at that time. They did not know how to run their business, so they had to start from the beginning. They also opened many stores around the world that have pleased many people. They changed many people's lives due to the fact they inspired people to believe in themselves and to never give up. Like when Burt died, Irv kept their business going to make Burt proud. Burt Baskin and Irv Robbins were game changers because they made many people's lives sweeter and helped start many businesses. 

Early Life

Burt Baskin and Irv Robbins were born 882 miles away but throughout their years, they became close with one another. Burt was born December 17, 1913, in Streator, Illinois (Burt Baskin). Burt was raised in Illinois with his father Harold Baskin, his mom Ida, his three brothers Albert, Lestard, and Bernard, and his two sisters Sadie, and Florence (Burt Baskin). Burt’s dad worked at a clothing store for a living and sometimes Burt would go help his dad out with cleaning up the store. Burt studied and graduated from Streator High School in Illinois (Butch Baskin). Burt wanted to follow the business industry like his family with the clothing store and that inspired him. 

Burt’s future partner Irv Robbins was born on December 6, 1917, in Winnipeg, Canada. Irv lived with his father Aaron Robbins, his mom Goldie, and two sisters Shirley and Elka (Irv Robbins). Irv's dad worked at an ice cream shop where later on in his life Irv worked with his dad and later on started his own business. Sometimes he would go to work with his dad where he learned how to manage the store. Irv’s and Burt’s moms stayed at home to take care of their children. Later on, Irv moved to Washington to go to Garfield High School in Seattle but then transferred to Stadium High School in Tacoma, Washington (Irv Robbins). They soon met because Burt was dating Irv’s sister Shirley (Burton Baskin & Irvine Robbins). Irv wanted to follow in his father's footsteps into the ice cream industry and soon Burt came along and agreed to the idea. 

Beginning Of Career

Burt wanted to start a new chapter in his life so he decided to marry Irv’s sister Shirley. Since Burt and Shirley got married Burt and Irv got closer together they started talking about their own business. Irv’s dad suggested that they work separately in two different stands first, then start working together (Burt Baskin). In 1945 Burt opened an ice cream stand while Irv had an actual business called Snowbird. When they started getting the hang of understanding the responsibilities it takes to have their own business so then they merged to work together in 1948 (Burt Baskin).  They did not want to be like other ice cream companies, they wanted to be better so they made their flavors and people enjoyed the wide selection of flavors (Burton Baskin & Irvine Robbins). Due to the company's great success, Irv had an ice cream-shaped pool made in his yard and an ice cream counter made in his kitchen (Irv Robbins). Burt and Irv’s business may have started with a few stores but many people already had fallen in love with it. Burt and Irv even had to make more stores because people wanted a store by where they lived. Burt and Irv did not know their business was going to go this well and this was only the beginning for them.

Significant Accomplishments

While Burt and Irv were still making stores they suddenly hit a wall they didn't have the capital to start the stores. So they decided to sell the store to their managers, then became one of the first ice cream parlor franchises. “So instead of opening stores themselves, they decided to sell stores to their managers, thus becoming one of the nation's first ice cream parlor franchises.” (Burton Baskin & Irvine Robbins).  By 1949, they already had 43 franchised stores and were growing rapidly. At that time Burt and Irv opened their first dairy in Burbank. “In 1949, there were more than 40 stores in Southern California when Burt and Irv purchased their first dairy in Burbank.” ( Our History). To make sure their business kept growing they decided that for every day of the month, they would make a new flavor with a unique name that would give the thirty-one flavors and that was way more than the average ice cream store that would sometimes only have vanilla and chocolate. “ In addition, Baskin and Robbins rotated the mix of exotic flavors they sold to their franchisees so their selection would remain interesting to regular customers.” (Burton Baskin & Irvine Robbins). They did that because they wanted more customers and that's how they grew so fast because people loved the new options and that's how they became one of the best ice cream stores out there. In 1953, they decided to rename Snowbird into Baskin- Robbins and did a coin toss to decide what order their names would go in. “In 1953, they decided to unite Snowbird and Burton's under one name: Baskin-Robbins, deciding the order of their names with a coin toss.” (Burton Baskin). Irv also changed his license plate to 31-BR to celebrate their accomplishment. “Robbins even changed his car´s license plate to 31 BR, which made even more people come up to pitch new flavor ideas to him.” (Success Story: Baskin-Robbins Ice Cream). Burt and Irv worked hard to accomplish all these things in their business.

Impact On The World

Burt and Irv’s business kept growing by the day. Until December 24, 1967, when he died at the age of fifty-four from heart failure. “Baskin died of a heart attack at the age of 54, just months after retiring and selling the business to United Fruit Company.” (Burt Baskin). That hurt many people because many people looked up to him, especially his partner Irv Robbins. Other people knew him and Irv because they both served in the field, Burt was in the Navy and Irv in the Army. But even with this devastating news, Irv kept his head up because he wanted to make Burt proud. Many people thought it wasn't going to work but Irv pulled it off. He sold 20 million gallons of ice cream around the world and that's a lot due to the fact he is doing it on his own. “During that year alone, more than 20 million gallons of his ice cream was sold through more than 2,000 Baskin-Robbins stores throughout the United States, Canada, Europe, and Japan.” (Burton Baskin & Irvine Robbins). People enjoyed what they did and that's why they cared so much, because of his ice cream. Things seem to be going well for him, sales kept growing. Even though Burt’s death was tragic it made a positive impact on their business and that's what Burt cared about the most.

Lessons Learned From Their Life

In conclusion, Burt and Irv had to work a lot to get to where they stand today and with that, they had to learn some lessons on how to be better in what they do. They had to start from the beginning by having just a small stand to learn how to run a business. Both of them were flabbergasted by how their business was going so they thought it was too late to turn back so they kept going. They had to go through a lot but that did not stop them from making their dreams come true.Unfortunately Burt passed away by a heart attack but that did not stop Irv from continuing their legacy. Even Though he was by himself that did not stop him from continuing their dreams. Irv kept working and reached goals like selling 20 gallons of ice cream and having more than 2,000 successful stores around the world. Overall Burt and Irv made a good team creating one of the best ice cream places ever that changed people’s lives on a everyday basis by giving them a treat and lessons to learn if they qwere running a business and did not know what to do. They didn’t just want to help themselves but they wanted to help other people around the world.