He Helped Concoct 31 Flavors Policy And Sold Fun Along With Ice Cream

While delivering one of his customary stem-winders in 1967, Fidel Castro announced that customers at Havana's ice-cream parlors would soon be able to choose from among 42 flavors, up from 26. The smorgasbord would "put U.S. ice-cream producers to shame," the bearded dictator told a cheering group of steelworkers.

Possibly incensed but more likely grabbing some free publicity, Irvine Robbins called Cuba's minister of industry and informed him that while Baskin-Robbins Ice Cream offered only 31 flavors at a time, it boasted a total arsenal of some 290 flavors. The revolution had a ways to go.

Mr. Robbins, who died ...