subject: Baskin-Robbins - The Interesting History of the Company, the Ice Cream and the 31 Flavors Slogan [print this page] Baskin-Robbins - The Interesting History of the Company, the Ice Cream and the 31 Flavors Slogan
Baskin-Robbins - 31 Flavors and an Interesting History
The Snowbird Ice Cream Store was opened in Glendale, California in 1945 by Irvine Robbins.
Robbins started advertising that his shop served 21 flavors of ice cream.
At the same time his brother-in-law, Burt (you guessed it) Baskin, opened an ice cream parlor called Burton's in the Los Angeles area. Wouldn't you have loved to be there that night. "So what are you gonna do next?" "I'm thinking of opening an ice cream parlor." "What? You too?"
It wasn't long, the next year in fact that the bro's-in-laws formed a partnership create (wait for it) Baskin-Robbins, to sell premium ice cream.
They soon decided to franchise their operation, and in just three years had eight stores.
In 1953, the company first started advertising that its shops served 31 flavors of ice cream.
Why 31? Why not 30? Or 50?
Well, it wasn't because they actually DID serve 31 flavors as you might expect.
The idea of this specific number came from the fact that Howard Johnson's motel and restaurant chain claimed to have 28 flavors of ice cream.
And they picked 31 so that they could advertise that customers could have a different flavor every day of a month.
Sounds good to me.
They never actually stuck to 31. The regularly create new treats. In 1969 they released a Lunar Cheesecake to celebrate the moon landing.
One franchise even tried ketchup ice cream, but (big surprise) it was not a roaring success.
As of 2005, there were about 5,000 Baskin-Robbins in the world -- one half of those in the United States,
