5/27/2011 Today We Went To….

Up until the last month of 1931, Wall, South Dakota, was known as the geographical center of nowhere. In other words, out in the boonies.

In December of 1931 Ted and Dorothy Hustead bought a drug store that was for sale and stocked it with a $3000.00 legacy left to Ted by his father. They were determined to give this store five years to get up off the ground. The town with a population of 326 wasn’t a bustling metropolis by anyone’s standards and customers were few and far between. Ted did feel needed when he filled prescriptions for a sick child or a farmer who was under the weather. They had made good friends in the small town and were comfortable in their small parish.

One hot summer day in their fifth year Dorothy told Ted that she was going to put their two children down for naps and would take one with them since she certainly wasn’t needed in the store. A short while later she returned and when Ted asked her if it was too hot to sleep she answered that she couldn’t sleep because of noise from the highway that wasn’t far away. From this sleepless afternoon came an idea that literally put Wall Drug on the map. Dorothy explained to Ted that since automobiles had proved to be more than just a passing fad and that people were in fact traveling, that they must be hot and need refreshment while on their journey. They decided to give away free ice water. An empire was born.

Ted and a local high school boy painted the phrases that Dorothy thought up and planted them along the highway in Burma Shave style. Before Ted and the boy had returned from completing this task the effects were being felt already. Dorothy was swamped in the store with people stopping for their free ice water and buying other things while they were there. They were thanked profusely for being this oasis in the dry, hot prairie.

Today these same type of signs, some are billboards now, still stand. Coming east or west no one passes through without being well aware of Wall Drug. They have over 500 miles of billboards on Interstate 90, stretching from Minnesota to Billings, Montana.

Some signs tell Honeymooners that they get free coffee…..

…….others let Veterans know that the java is free for them too.

Priests, hunters, police officers and several others get free coffee too.

I don’t know what we really expected Wall to look like today but to say that we were surprised would be an understatement.

Today the population is still under a thousand and while the building of homes has certainly enlarged the town and small businesses have moved in, Wall Drug is still the mainstay for employment as one third of the town are employees. We saw a grain mill, a few restaurants, a small hardware store, a barber shop and few other small businesses before we got to Main Street. There are also a good amount of motels. In fact, if every resident in town took a room there would still be over 400 available.

This is Main Street today, all two blocks of it.

This is Wall Drug back in the Dustbowl Days of the 1930’s.

Picture courtesy of Wall Drug website.

Today, it looks like this.

The store is now 76,000 square feet of tourist trap! I don’t know where I got the idea that it was one big store, think Woolworth’s back in the day with the lunch counter and all, but it is in fact dozens of little stores all under one roof. Every kind of shop that you would imagine in a tourist trap. Your typical T-shirt shop, a western clothing store, a western art gallery, several eating establishments, trinket stores in which I found dozens and dozens of things with names one them and not one with Snookie on it! Some things just never change.

I was surprised to see this.

The plaque above the seat says:

Dedicated to the priests and ministers who have served on the Wall of the Badlands since 1909.

The Travelers Chapel….

At one end of the building’s main hallway are products of probably a local taxidermist. These are animals of this area.

Statues are place throughout the various hallways for picture taking opportunities. Some standing and some sitting on benches.

Although the shingle was still hanging, the drug store was closed.

There was small outside with a display of potions from days gone by.

I walked into one eating establishment that had a card game going on in the corner.

Some of the establishments didn’t appear to be open as yet because the season isn’t really here yet in South Dakota. I would say thee was probably several hundred people here today which is nothing compared to the height of the season will bring. On a typical summer day 20,000 will walk through Wall Drug. I’m glad we were here today.

Wall Drug has become such a tourist attraction that it has expanded to include the Back Yard.

The Back Yard consists of some outdoor entertainment areas as well as some more stores.

One section that drew the crowd was the area where water spurts up from the ground and the kids try to run and not get wet,,,at least on a chilly day like today. There were a few kids dodging the random spurts of water shooting up from the ground but none of them seem to having a grand ol’ time like this particular kid.

There’s also a giant JACKALOPE to have your picture taken while sitting on it. Lots of kids had there pictures taken and more than a few adults too. I asked Bob to get up there but he refused.

Another big attraction is the T-Rex. He awakens every twelve minutes to feed.

He roars, he snorts, he shakes his head from side to side, smoke bellows and red lights flash. And he’s hungry!

He seems to be ready to lunge and lets out one loud RRROARRR and you see the kids on the run!

Outside there is also a kid sized replica of the Mount Rushmore. I’m sure many a class picture has been taken like this one below.

(Picture courtesy of Wall Drug website)

Today there weren’t any class trips but I did get one picture of a little girl. I wonder how many times this pose has been taken?

So there it is….Wall Drug. I hope I’ve given you a pretty good idea of what it’s like and I hope you enjoyed the trip.

This wasn’t the end our day but I’m going to cut it into two posts or I’ll never get it loaded!

Next stop...Badlands National Park