WALL, South Dakota — Charlie and Ann McLaughlin with family friend, Doreen in the middle, sitting outside of the iconic 76,000 square-foot Wall Drug Store. (Salena Zito)
Posted on 08/09/2021 5:50:54 AM PDT by Rummyfan
Everything about Wall Drug, arguably the most iconic and long-lasting drug store in America, exemplifies a doggedness. It took persistence not only to survive but also thrive against insurmountable odds in a place few thought a small business had any business starting an enterprise in the first place.
In 1931, when Ted Hustead and his wife Dorothy were looking for a place to open a drug store, he told the local paper years later he picked the thinly populated town of Wall because the local doctor told them he’d give them all his prescriptions.
Despite all their hard work, though, most of their potential customers passed their little prairie town along the highway, rarely noticing the store.
The Husteads’ dire future all changed one hot summer night when Dorothy Hustead could not sleep. Irritated that the parade of cars along U.S. 16 was keeping her awake, she wondered how could they make all of those people at least stop at their store and maybe buy a thing or two.
Out of that mild irritation came a plan: Plant signs along the highway offering free ice-cold water to weary travelers. And not just any signs, but clever ones like the humorous Burma Shave signs that were famously posted all along small highways in the 1920s.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonexaminer.com ...
WALL, South Dakota — Charlie and Ann McLaughlin with family friend, Doreen in the middle, sitting outside of the iconic 76,000 square-foot Wall Drug Store. (Salena Zito)
Been there several times. Love the hubcaps. Huge cinnamon buns.
“The Hustead family has done what de Tocqueville admired about the essence of Americanism: the drive to form associations with each other that drew together all different types of professional, social, civil, and political groups over a shared aspiration.”
The America that Obama, Pelosi, and Biden hate.
In the immortal words (paraphrasing) of leftist progressives - You didn’t build that business. The government built the road that brought the customers.
I think that was one of the slogans, there are many, that gins up extreme anger and frustration with the leftists. I cannot quite fathom how such a large collective of leftists could do a 180 degree turn from their youthful days of the 60’s & 70’s when they hated the government to government worship by the 2000’s! All I can think is INSANITY UNCHECKED.
I’ve been there twice. They do a pretty good breakfast for a reasonable price. Hope to get back there sometime soon with a trip to ND to the Theodore Roosevelt NP and circling toward Yellowstone NP from there.
If you lost, you could go to another machine, see the outlaw's mannequin on a scaffold and drop another quarter to spring the trapdoor and watch him swing and twist in the wind. Good times.
Last year my wife and I did our annual anniversary trip to western South Dakota and eastern Wyoming. It was a fantastic trip and I encourage anyone who hasn’t been out that way to go.
We made the pilgrimage to the Wall Drug Store for their open face roast beef (smothered in brown gravy) sandwich lunch. Highly recommended! Wall, SD sits at the northwest entrance to Badlands National Park. We were greeted by a stray buffalo and some antelope as we entered the park.
Y’@ll should see the Hustead’s house.
It’s marvelous
I still have a wood-framed 1963 Wall Drug sign, when I visited way back when.
We took family trips to the west every couple of years when I was a kid in the 50s and 60s. I remember seeing lots of Wall Drug signs starting hundreds of miles away and lots of Wall Drug bumper stickers (I think they were wired onto your bumper in those days). But Dad never stopped once. We were on a mission to get to the next relative’s house.
We did get to see the Badlands, Mt. Rushmore, Devil’s Tower, Cody, Yellowstone, the Tetons, the Snake River Canyon, Craters of the Moon, Jackson, lots of Indian trading posts, and many other sights, though.
I remember us stopping there on a family vacation to see Mount Rushmore when I was about 12.
It worked for us in 1991 when we took a cross-country auto tour. We saw the first signs just after we left Chicago. We wound up spending a night in Wall. I had one of their Buffalo Burgers, which I thought was way too dry. I bought a little altimeter for the car. Neat place!
ML/NJ
Their success wasn’t hurt by having a small gasoline refinery there, out in the middle of nowhere. I believe it’s been shut down now.
Personally, I prefer this business idea for a drug store:
http://mccaysvilledrugcenter.com/
It has worked so well, they’ve now opened a second location. And yes, I am a happy customer!
Been to Wall Drug about five times; couldn’t drive past it. Great Place!
Let me suggest a counterpart to Wall Drug east of the Mississippi.
The Old Country Store in Jackson, Tennessee.
Fabulous meals, especially breakfast. Especially breakfast!!
One of my mild regrets is driving past it on the way back home. Middle of the afternoon; wife said GO! Gotta blame somebody.
Once a week, musicians (used to, maybe still do) come out from the city for Pickin’ and Grinnin’. Fabulous! Really Fabulous!
Six, seven groups of six, seven, maybe more musicians playing.
Ping to post 16
Yes, Wall Drug is a tourist trap extraordinaire, but it’s also a unique part of America and a beloved part of my home state of South Dakota. The Hustead’s story is the American dream and what they created is a fun and must see place for wearily travelers making the long drive across South Dakota. The food is good and reasonably priced, the restrooms spotlessly clean and it gives you an opportunity to be entertained as you stretch your legs.
It is interesting to see Wall Drug in the off season. On a cold winter day, the touristy areas are shutdown, the throngs of people are gone and Wall Drug reverts to a typical small town business were the locals gather for coffee and cinnamon rolls, people get their prescriptions filled and ranchers come in for supplies.
Two stops I always recommend for people traveling across South Dakota are Wall Drug and Al’s Oasis, a restaurant and general store just across the Missouri River from Chamberlain…Buffalo burgers and homemade pie.
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