Irvine Robbins was a Canadian-born American businessman.
13 Facts About Irv Robbins
1.
2.
Irv Robbins co-founded the Baskin-Robbins ice cream parlor chain in 1945 with his partner and brother-in-law Burt Baskin.
3.
Irv Robbins attended both Tacoma's Stadium High School, where he was a yell leader, and Seattle's Garfield High School.
4.
Irv Robbins grew up scooping cones in his family's ice cream store for customers who always seemed to be having a good time.
5.
Irv Robbins recalled that he often "finished a day's work happy" and wanted that same feeling when he started his own business.
6.
Irv Robbins attended the University of Washington in Seattle, was a member of the Zeta Beta Tau fraternity, and graduated with a degree in Political Science.
7.
Irv Robbins served in the US Army as a Staff Sergeant in California, during World War II and was discharged on August 1945.
8.
Irv Robbins cashed in a $6,000 insurance policy given him for his bar mitzvah to start the business.
9.
In 1953, they renamed the company Baskin-Irv Robbins, deciding the order of their names with a coin toss.
10.
Baskin-Irv Robbins had 43 stores by the end of 1949, more than 100 by 1960 and about 500 when the ice cream empire was sold to United Fruit Company for an estimated $12 million in 1967.
11.
Irv Robbins stayed involved with the company for 11 more years and retired in 1978.
12.
Irv Robbins married Irma Gevurtz in 1942, just before he went to serve in the US Army.
13.
Irv Robbins died of natural causes near his home in Rancho Mirage, California, at the age of 90.