May 07th, 2008 | Category: General
“FRANKLY, I NEVER MET A FLAVOR I DIDN’T LIKE”
Posted by: Turkey Hill Team
Those are the words of Baskin-Robbins co-founder, Irvine Robbins, who passed away on Monday at the age of 90.
Irvine was an important figure in ice cream history. His stores were among the earliest franchised scoop shops. The first was founded in 1945, and today there are more than 5,800 locations worldwide. Even though Baskin-Robbins is known for their “31 Flavors,” they’ve actually created over 1,000 varieties in the past 63 years, including special flavors to commemorate the moon landings, our nation’s bicentennial and the arrival of the Beatles in 1964. It was his love of new and unusual flavors that helped separate Irvine’s shops from their competitors, and ushered in an era of flavor experimentation that is seen throughout the ice cream industry today.
Like Turkey Hill, Irvine’s ice cream dream began humbly. In December 1945, after a stint in the U.S. Army, he opened his first ice cream shop in Glendale, California using $6,000 his father had left him. On the first day, he sold $53 worth of ice cream, $39 of which was purchased by his cousin, Sybil. A few years later, Irvine teamed up with his brother-in-law, Burton Baskin, to form the Baskin-Robbins partnership we know today. The brothers tossed a coin to decide whose name came first.
Yes, Irvine Robbins will be missed, but his memory and the influence he has had on the world of ice cream lives on. It lives on in Rocky Road ice cream, a flavor he helped create. It lives on in ice cream cake, which his shops invented and made available to the public. It lives on because ice cream lives on, and every man, woman and child has a soft spot in their hearts for that frosty treat.
“Everybody has a proprietary interest in ice cream,” Irvine once told the New York Times. “All you have to do is mention ice cream, and everybody has a flavor.”
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If you’ve got a technical question about the ice cream making process or some other inquiry about the nuances of America’s favorite treat, chances are Ernie has the answer. He might not be able to answer all questions, but he’ll try his best and some may be featured on the Ice Cream Journal.
24 Comments
I loved peanut butter&jelly icecream from Baskin Robbins that was a childhood fav!
May 10th, 2008 at 6:15 pmI forgot to say my heart goes our to the Irvine Robbine Family, He will be miss. It was so nice to see Turkey Hill family write a nice artilce about him. Thank You Turkey Hill, This is one of the reason I like your ice cream so much. You are a very nice and friendly family bussiness.
May 10th, 2008 at 2:36 am[...] history. His stores were among the earliest franchised scoop shops. The first was founded in 1945,http://icecreamjournal.turkeyhill.com/index.php/2008/05/07/robbins/Letters to the Editor May 7 May 6, 2008 Age discrimination is alive and well Editor: Re: ???We need [...]
May 10th, 2008 at 12:08 amI am still looking for Turkey Hill Sourthern Lemon Pie Ice Cream. But I still love Turkey Hill vanilla ice cream
May 9th, 2008 at 11:55 pmHi, I can’t find Turkey Hill southern Lemon Pie Ice Cream. I am still looking for it. But you can’t beat my falvor Turkey Hill Ice cream….Vanilla.
May 9th, 2008 at 11:53 pmMy favorite Baskin-Robbins flavor was Quarterback Crunch back in the early 1980s when Penn State won its first National Championship. My college roommate STILL brings that up, even though that was 26 years ago! I can’t wait to try Buffalo Bills’ Stampede Sundae as soon as I can find it. Sounds like a winner to me! Maybe you could pass along some of your winning strategies to the Bills…
May 9th, 2008 at 3:51 pmMy all time favorite was frozen pudding from Howard Johnson’s. Hardly anyone marks this anymore, only one local shop called Peaceful Meadows in Whitman, MA.
May 9th, 2008 at 10:42 amRest In Peace Irvine Robbins. My condolences to the Robbins family.
May 9th, 2008 at 10:36 amI have never met a flavor I didn’t eat. Keep them coming Turkey Hill!
Sarah - Yes, we are still making the Cherry Orchard sherbet! If you can’t find it at your local grocery store, just ask your frozen foods manager to stock it. There’s no guarantee your request will work, but they’re always happy to take suggestions from shoppers!
May 9th, 2008 at 7:53 amMany years ago I read a story about Irvine Robbins and how, as a joke, he made several gallons of ketchup flavored ice cream for a friend who was a ketchup nut. Of course, it was so bad the friend flushed it all away. I repeated that story to someone and they said that was crazy and no one would ever make ketchup ice cream. I was vindicated when I read of his passing in The Patriot-News and they mentioned ketchup among several failed flavors. Thank goodness TH hasn’t tried this one. Are you still making Cherry Orchard Sherbet (my all-time favorite), because I can no longer find it at the Camp Hill Giant?
May 9th, 2008 at 12:12 amTODAY I BOUGHT “SOUTHERN LEMON PIE”
May 8th, 2008 at 8:55 pmOH MY GOSH IT IS SOOOOOOO CREAMERY AND SMOOTH IT LIKE EATING CLOUDS. GREAT, GREAT FOR THIS LEMON LOVER.
How very nice of the Turkey Hill company to pay their respects to a competitor in the ice cream business, Irvine Robbins. Both make fine ice cream, but my freezer is stocked with Turkey Hill.
May 8th, 2008 at 8:36 pmThe ice cream world has suffered a great loss. Seems like he had the same dreams and passions as Turkey Hill.
May 8th, 2008 at 7:58 pmCondolences to the Robbins Family.
He contributed a great deal to my favorite snack.
May 8th, 2008 at 5:42 pmour condolences to the Robbins family-what a great contribution he made to the world-anything that has to do with ice cream is beneficial to us all-thank you for making us aware of his passing-Susan
May 8th, 2008 at 4:41 pmBernadette - If you like the lemon ice (or any of the Duetto Venice Ices), you’ll be happy to know that we’ve begun offering our Venice Ices all by themselves. You can get them in Lemon/Cherry, Mango, Pomegranate Blueberry with Acai, and Raspberry. Check them out here:
http://www.turkeyhill.com/products/venice-ice.asp
May 8th, 2008 at 2:58 pmI have eaten Baskin-Robbins, but I find Turkey Hill to be better. just my two cents worth.
May 8th, 2008 at 2:58 pmI would like to see lemon sherbert!!!!
The duets today was mango or cherry. I would like lemon all by itself, or packaged with the duetto. Go Lemon!!!!
May 8th, 2008 at 2:24 pmI agree with Jacqueline. I also don’t like mint as well as root beer and neither does my hubby. Its funny hubby can have 5 cups of coffee but does not like coffee ice cream and I don’t like coffee anyway it is served.
May 8th, 2008 at 1:21 pmT.H.T. Thank-you for giving us the opportunity to learn about Irvine Robbins, and his great contribution to ice cream. Nice to see a personal touch to the business world.
May 8th, 2008 at 1:14 pmThanks for posting a notice about the death of Irvine Robbins. Baskin Robbins was a major factor in the development of new ice flavors. They came up with flavors that even Howard Johnson’s hadn’t thought of!!!
May 8th, 2008 at 1:02 pmhope to try new ones,love turkey hill
May 8th, 2008 at 10:44 amSorry to say, I don’t agree. I might be a fussy eater, but I’ve never liked mint-flavored ice cream nor anything with marshmallow. Just my quirk, but I won’t buy either.
May 8th, 2008 at 10:34 amyes , evryone has there own flavor or flavors ,it is spice of life ,so is ice cream
May 7th, 2008 at 1:18 pmThese comments are intended to be a discussion of the information presented in the blog postings. Any product-related questions or other issues not related to the post should be referred to our consumer response team through the link on our Contact Us page, as they are the true experts in answering any questions or concerns you may have about Turkey Hill and its products.
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