The Dakotas Trip - Part 3 - Wall Drug

For the first two parts of The Dakotas Trip, click here for Part One, and here for Part Two.

Leaving Rapid City in bright sunshine demonstrated the micro-climates that envelope the Black Hills.  Another thing I noticed is the topography.  Almost as soon as I got east of Rapid City, the coniferous trees were gone.  Well, almost ALL the trees were gone.  Suddenly, it was the awesome rolling hills of the Badlands.

And almost as soon as I got out of Rapid City, the signs began.  As in the signs for Wall Drug.  Wall Drug began in tiny Wall, SD (see map) in the midst of the Great Depression by Ted Hustead, a pharmacist who moved to Wall mainly because there was a Catholic Church in the community.  When it became apparent the townspeople of Wall weren't very rich, Hustead came up with an idea to offer free ice water to people traveling on U.S. Highway 14 to the then new Mount Rushmore, the nearby Badlands National Monument (now Badlands National Park), Yellowstone National Park and points west. 

With the help of others, Hustead erected signs along the highways leading to Wall, beckoning hot and thirsty travelers to stop in for free ice water.  Soon there were signs for Wall Drug all across the state of South Dakota and later across many states in the Midwest and Mountain states. 

Almost immediately, business picked up in the tiny drug store.  Their ice cream and soda fountain business began to flourish.  They've been giving away cold water and selling 5 cent coffee almost as long as they've been open.

In the early 60's, it was estimated there were over 90,000 signs for Wall Drug in the region.  I read somewhere there are still about 280 Wall Drug signs of various size and advertisements along portions of Interstate 90 in South Dakota. 

Well, it was on the way and I had to stop.  I mean, it's in the middle of nowhere and it is one of the largest tourist attractions in the upper Midwest.  I had to go just this one time. 

The signs guided me right into Wall and onto Main Street where I found Wall Drug (see map).  I expected it to be a huge place, and I wasn't disappointed. 

I pulled into one of the many large parking lots near the drug store and walked down the street.  Actually, the whole area around and across from Wall Drug is nothing but a tourist trap with t-shirt shops, western wear and other horrible stores just screaming to separate you and your money.  I wasn't even certain I really wanted to go into Wall Drug as I walked up the street.

The inside of Wall Drug was just as I imagined - a plethora of cheap trinkets and overpriced crap that droves of tourists snatch up.  They had rooms and rooms of this stuff.  I didn't even stop long enough to look at some of the things they had to offer.  I was afraid I'd get trapped into buying something.

Since dinosaurs roamed the area millions of years ago, there were a lot of dinosaur models for sale at Wall Drug.  Kids love dinosaurs - you couldn't even get through the aisle where the models were because there were so many kids screaming for their dad to buy them one. 

Of course, the kitschy items were more than prevalent, as well.  I couldn't resist taking this picture to show some of the crap they had for sale.  Actually, I sort of wish I would have taken more time walking through the gift shop area to find the most outlandish piece of merchandise.  On second thought, no, maybe not.   

Wall Drug has been built on to and expanded many times over the years.  It now takes up one whole city block in Wall. This is the "Backyard" area of the place, which has the Train Station Water Show area.  It had kind of an old Western theme to it.  They had a little water fountain out there for kids to run through.  Just what parents want - wet kids in the car. 

Also in the courtyard were a number of props to be used to take pictures with.  There was a miniature Mount Rushmore, a number of ceramic horses, a big gorilla and this giant jackalope that people can get on to get their pictures taken on.  Believe me, a lot of people were jumping up on this thing while I was there. 

Here's the free ice water dispenser out in the courtyard.  They're smart at Wall Drug - to get to the water, you have to walk through the gift shop area.  That's sort of like how they do it in Las Vegas - in order to get to your room, a restaurant or to a show, they make you walk through the casino.  In other words, they want more of your disposable income.

Years ago, Ted Hustead and his wife, Dorothy, used to chip ice off of big blocks of ice and pour ice water from a pitcher.  Now, you can just serve yourself.  I thought they'd at least have some one just handing out water.  But it must get pretty cold out there in the winter time.

The newest building on the backside of Wall Drug had a display of articles about the history of the business, as well as letters, articles and pictures of the Hustead family over the years.  Ted Hustead's son, Bill, ran the day to day operation for a number of years and oversaw the expansion of Wall Drug to it's present size today.  Bill's sons, Rick and Ted, are the CEO and President, respectively, of Wall Drug today.

Around the corner from where the family memorabilia was displayed was an art museum of paintings and artifacts of the Old West.  They had a long hall area with prints and drawings, as well as a large museum room filled with paintings, sculptures and antique relics.  I didn't spend much time in there, although it did look pretty neat.

Back into the main building, this is the mall area Bill Hustead built onto the original Wall Drug in the mid 70's.  When financial advisers told Bill that the economy was backsliding and advised him to divest from Wall Drug altogether, he expanded.  This was the first part of the expansion of Wall Drug.

In the mall, there's a poster shop, a t-shirt shop, an art gallery where you can buy prints and sculptures, a soda fountain, and, of course, the Wall Drug drugstore.

Actually, that was about all I could handle.  I'm sure there was a lot more to see, but I had a lot of miles ahead of me.  I ended up getting out of there and heading back out to the mini-SUV I was driving.  I thought to myself, "Well, that's 30 minutes of my life that I'll never get back." 

But, still, there were some sort of neat things to see at Wall Drug.  It's pure Americana, not only in the kitsch and touristy items they have, but with the sort of wholesome feel that permeates the place.  If you ever get up that way, you really have to stop.  Once.

(Next up - Pierre and The Corn Palace.)    

Comments

[Anne Trennedy]

OMG!!!! We went to Wall Drug when I was a little girl when we went out to Yellowstone and the Black Hills!! I don't remember the backyard area, but I do remember they had the jackalope because my brother and I got our picture taken on it. How wild! Like you, the place drove my dad crazy!