Wall Drug: A Warm Welcome at the Ice Water Store

by Paris Permenter & John Bigley

One of the world's most famous drug stories lies at the edge of Badlands National Park...

"Have you dug Wall Drug?"

Soldiers stationed in Vietnam or Saudi Arabi saw this or one of hundreds of other signs advertising Wall Drug of Wall, South Dakota. Over 200 signs were posted throughout Saudi Arabia alone during Desert Storm; others can be seen in the Kenya Railroad Station, along the Amsterdam canal, on the Paris Metro, and on double decker buses in London.

Wall Drug is to drug stores what Bloomingdale's is to department stores. Travelers from around the world come to this massive store on the edge of the Badlands National Park to shop, dine, and just soak up the off beat Western atmosphere.

Things are busy today at Wall Drug, but business wasn't always so prosperous. In 1931, the Hustead family moved to Wall and soon found themselves living in the back of the drug store, whose only asset was a broken soda fountain. The country around Wall was rugged and arid; drinking water had to be hauled in over 12 miles. The nation was in the midst of the worst economic depression ever suffered. The Husteads gave themselves five years to make a go of it.

Even during the worst of the Depression, however, travelers continued to drive near Wall Drug on Route 16A towards Yellowstone. When the sound of passing cars kept Dorothy Hustead awake one hot afternoon as she tried to nap, she hit upon a plan to make those drivers stop.

Free ice water. Even though it meant cutting 150 pound blocks of ice during the long South Dakota winter and storing them to last throughout the summer, the Husteads figured their ice water giveaways would be a hit. And to make sure the travelers knew about the ice water, Mrs. Hustead put out a few signs.

"It was embarrassing, but it sure brought in business," recalls son Bill Hustead, now the pharmacist at Wall Drug. His mother put signs on the road from Denver, then branched out to other neighboring states. Before long, the highways were dotted with Wall Drug ads. Today, the operation has over 3,000 signs across the fifty states.

During World War II, Wall Drug went international. When the local bank cashier headed to duty in Europe, he decided to do some promotion. Soon signs such as "81 kilometers to Frankfurt, 17 kilometers to Mannheim, 4321 miles to Wall Drug Store" began appearing on U.S. military bases.

At the end of the war, ex-G.I.'s who had seen those signs brought their families through the area on vacation. Word of Wall Drug spread. Today the drug store dominates the tiny town of Wall (population 800), and employs over 200 workers in retail and food service.

What began as a store carrying a few extra items for the tourist trade has now turned into a virtual mall of Western goods. Inside the doors of Wall Drug, visitors find themselves on a recreated Western street, with stores featuring cowboy boots, western hats, western artwork, and books. Popular Black Gold jewelry, produced in South Dakota, is sold at the store as well, featuring tri-color gold designs of grapes and leaves. A restaurant seats 500 and offers local specialties like buffalo burgers.

In case you find that traveling hasn't agreed with you, there's still a pharmacy at Wall Drug. The apothecary downstairs is museum replica of the early drug store but upstairs Bill Hustead dispenses drugs as three generations of his family have done since 1890. In fact, it's still the only drug store within 5,000 square miles.

"I feel that Wall Drug keeps alive one of the most wholesome institutions in America today -- the small Western drug store," says Hustead. And to bring tourists in to prove it, he's still following mom's advice: give 'em free ice water. Be sure to pick up your free cup of ice water when you visit as well as one other freebie: your own Wall Drug sign to take home and post like the millions of others that have been shipped to military personnel all over the world.

For South Dakota information, see see www.travelsd.com

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