Wall Drug
Wall Drug Store, often called simply Wall Drug, is a roadside attraction and [[tourist attraction|tourist
History
 | This section needs additional citations for verification. (July 2021) |
The small-town
Marketing campaign
Wall Drug earns much of its fame from its self-promotion. Billboards advertising the establishment
Today
To date, Wall Drug still offers free ice water, but as they have become more popular, they have started to offer free bumper stickers to aid in promotion, and coffee for 5 cents. Some popular free bumper stickers read "Where the heck is Wall Drug?" and "Have You Dug Wall Drug?".
Wall Drug has over 300 original oil paintings in the Western Art Gallery Dining Rooms. This acquisition represents one of the country's best private collections of original Western and Illustration Art. Artists featured include N. C. Wyeth, Harvey Dunn, Dean Cornwell, Louis Glanzman, and Harold Von Schmidt.
When the United States Air Force was still operating Minuteman missile silos in the western South Dakota plains, Wall Drug used to offer free coffee and doughnuts to service personnel if they stopped in on their way to or from Ellsworth Air Force Base (50 miles (80 km) west on Interstate 90). To this day, Wall Drug continues to offer coffee and doughnuts which are free to active military personnel and also popular among ordinary tourists.
Ted and Bill Hustead died in 1999. The following day, South Dakota Governor Bill Janklow began his annual State of the State address by commemorating Hustead as "a guy that figured out that free ice water could turn you into a phenomenal success in the middle of a semi-arid desert way out in the middle of someplace".[1]
Media references
- In 1981, Wall Drug was featured in Time magazine as one of the largest tourist attractions in the north[2]
- In his 1989 book, The Lost Continent, Bill Bryson wrote, "It's an awful place, one of the world's worst tourist traps, but I loved it and I won't have a word said against it."[3]
- The history of Wall Drug was told in a two-episode story arc of the podcast The Radio Adventures of Dr. Floyd
- In 2016, Z Nation featured Wall Drug in season 3, episode 8
- The 2020 drama film Nomadland features scenes where the main characters work at Wall Drug and visit the dinosaur statue
Gallery
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The Wall Drug Cowboy Orchestra -
A typical Wall Drug billboard -
Sign in Afghanistan -
Wall Drug sign in Antarctica – Free Ice Water, 9,333 miles -
Wall Drug Jackalope, man for size reference -
The Wall, South Dakota Community Library
Further reading
- Salena Zito (8 Aug 2021). "In South Dakota, the road signs lead to the Wall". Washington Examiner.
See also
- South of the Border, a similar attraction off Interstate 95 in South Carolina, just south of the border with North Carolina
- Badlands National Park
- Breezewood, Pennsylvania
- Uranus, Missouri
References
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
Hustead obitwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ "In South Dakota: Buffalo Burgers at Wall Drug". Time. August 13, 1981. Archived from the original on March 14, 2008.
- ^ Bryson, Bill. The Lost Continent: Travels in Small-Town America (2011 ed.). Random House Digital. p. 199. ISBN 978-0-385-67456-0. Excerpts available at Google Books.
External links
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| National | |
- Roadside attractions in South Dakota
- Buildings and structures in Pennington County, South Dakota
- Pharmacies of the United States
- Landmarks in South Dakota
- Restaurants in South Dakota
- American companies established in 1931
- Retail companies established in 1931
- 1931 establishments in South Dakota
- Tourist attractions in Pennington County, South Dakota
- Health care companies based in South Dakota
- South Dakota culture