R.I.P., Glendale’s Ice Cream Man

Just steps from our house 63 years ago, Irv Robbins opened up the Snowbird Ice Cream shop (above, in Adams Square — a kebab shop now sits where Snowbird once stood). A few years later, his brother-in-law, Burt Baskin, opened an ice cream shop in Pasadena. The two eventually merged their operations, and Baskin-Robbins was born.

Given my love of ice cream, I kinda like the fact that we live so close to the spot where the modern ice cream shop was born. That’s why we pay tribute today to Robbins, who has passed away at the age of 90.

Robbins cashed in an insurance policy soon after leaving the Army in 1945; with $6,000 in his pocket, he opened Snowbird. The L.A. Times writes:

“There was really no such thing anyplace as a pure ice cream store,” Robbins told The Times in 1985. “I just had the crazy idea that somebody ought to open a store that sold . . . nothing but ice cream, and could do it in an outstanding way.”

Baskin, who was married to Robbins’ sister Shirley, also had recently returned from serving in the military in World War II. In early 1946, he opened Burton’s Ice Cream in Pasadena.

By 1948, the five Snowbird and three Burton’s shops had been combined into a single enterprise, and they had devised their 31st flavor — Chocolate Mint. But the new partners realized they were too busy to give the stores the attention they needed to succeed.

“That’s when we hit on selling our stores to our managers,” Robbins said in the 1985 Times story. “Without realizing it at the time, we were in the franchise business before the word ‘franchise’ was fashionable. We opened another store and another and another. . . .”

In 1953, they renamed the company Baskin-Robbins, deciding the order of their names with a coin toss. The “31 flavors” concept was introduced that same year to bring attention to a deep menu that featured a flavor for every day of the month.

They sold the company in 1967, but Robbins remained involved through the end of the 1970s. More:

His family often filled the role of ice-cream taste-testers around the dinner table at their Encino home with its backyard pool shaped like an ice cream cone. He named his boat the 32nd Flavor.

After retiring, he moved to a Rancho Mirage home equipped with a six-flavor ice-cream counter and was known to start the day with a bowl of cereal topped with a scoop of banana ice cream.

OK, that sounds like the most awesome breakfast ever.

Even as a kid, I turned my nose up at boring, traditional flavors, and always chose the more unusual scoops at Baskin-Robbins or other stores. Baskin-Robbins paved the way for the even more exotic offerings of Ben & Jerry’s and yes, our fave East Hollywood spot, Scoops.

31 cheers to ice cream man Irv Robbins!

Several Years in the Making, the Adams Hill Mini-Park Finally Opens

When we first moved to Glendale’s Adams Hill, a sign posted in front of an abandoned 30s-era art deco gas station promised a new park, opening in the fall of 2004.

Fall 2004 came and went, and the sign changed to “2005.” But suddenly, the city had second thoughts, and plans started circulating to demolish the gas station and turn the lot into parking for Adams Square businesses.

That brought out the big Adams Hill Homeowners Association guns. Even I got into the act in a small way, creating this blog in order to organize all of the pro-park, pro-preservation info for the gas station structure in one place.

Thankfully, the city agreed and new plans were drawn up. Glendale finally broke ground for the park in July 2006, with plans to open in December.

Then, another snag: Rather than follow the plans as approved by the city, somehow new plans emerged that crowded the small space with too much concrete, too many tables and two large play structures. Rather than settle for that eyesore of a park, the Homeowners Association again fought for what was originally envisioned — and again, the city backed down.

That delayed the opening several more months… but finally, this past weekend, all that work paid off. The new pocket park opened, and it’s beautiful. Not to mention one-of-a-kind, with the restored gas station structure. It’s definitely a gathering space, and already Blogger Toddler has made good use out of the play structure. At night, what had been a dark, abandoned corner is now bright with lights. Here are a few pics from this Saturday’s opening ceremonies:

The art-deco gas station, now sporting a new “Glendale” sign (and its original blue-and-yellow paint design).

A vintage gas pump will occasionally make it to the park — but only every once in a while; you can imagine that thing would be vandalized/stolen rather quickly otherwise.

Crowd gathers for the park dedication.

Several Years in the Making, the Adams Hill Mini-Park Finally Opens

When we first moved to Glendale’s Adams Hill, a sign posted in front of an abandoned 30s-era art deco gas station promised a new park, opening in the fall of 2004.

Fall 2004 came and went, and the sign changed to “2005.” But suddenly, the city had second thoughts, and plans started circulating to demolish the gas station and turn the lot into parking for Adams Square businesses.

That brought out the big Adams Hill Homeowners Association guns. Even I got into the act in a small way, creating this blog in order to organize all of the pro-park, pro-preservation info for the gas station structure in one place.

Thankfully, the city agreed and new plans were drawn up. Glendale finally broke ground for the park in July 2006, with plans to open in December.

Then, another snag: Rather than follow the plans as approved by the city, somehow new plans emerged that crowded the small space with too much concrete, too many tables and two large play structures. Rather than settle for that eyesore of a park, the Homeowners Association again fought for what was originally envisioned — and again, the city backed down.

That delayed the opening several more months… but finally, this past weekend, all that work paid off. The new pocket park opened, and it’s beautiful. Not to mention one-of-a-kind, with the restored gas station structure. It’s definitely a gathering space, and already Blogger Toddler has made good use out of the play structure. At night, what had been a dark, abandoned corner is now bright with lights. Here are a few pics from this Saturday’s opening ceremonies:

The art-deco gas station, now sporting a new “Glendale” sign (and its original blue-and-yellow paint design).

A vintage gas pump will occasionally make it to the park — but only every once in a while; you can imagine that thing would be vandalized/stolen rather quickly otherwise.

Crowd gathers for the park dedication.