It was founded in 1953 by the merger of two separate ice cream ventures of Burt Baskin and Irv Robbins , who were brothers-in-law . Before the merger , the two separate ice cream ventures were called Burtâ s Ice Cream Shop and Snowbird Ice Cream . The Baskin-Robbins ice cream parlors started as separate ventures from Burt Baskin and Irv Robbins , owning Burt 's Ice Cream Shop and Snowbird Ice Cream respectively .