{"id":100261,"date":"2024-08-21T09:22:06","date_gmt":"2024-08-21T13:22:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.genealogybank.com\/?p=100261"},"modified":"2024-08-21T09:22:32","modified_gmt":"2024-08-21T13:22:32","slug":"on-the-road-have-you-been-to-wall-drug","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/on-the-road-have-you-been-to-wall-drug.html","title":{"rendered":"On the Road: Have You Been to Wall Drug?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Introduction:<\/em><\/strong> In this article, Gena Philibert-Ortega begins her new \u201cOn the Road\u201d series with Wall Drug Store in Wall, South Dakota. Gena is a genealogist and author of the book \u201cFrom the Family Kitchen.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

For those who have traveled through South Dakota, there is one modern-day landmark that is a must-see. This landmark isn\u2019t Mount Rushmore but a place where, for 93 years, travelers could get something to eat, rest, and buy souvenirs. That landmark is Wall Drug in Wall, South Dakota.<\/p>\n

\"Photo:
Photo: Wall Drug Store menu and brochure. Credit: Gena Philibert-Ortega.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Wall Drug Origin Story<\/strong><\/p>\n

In 1931, Dorothy and Ted Hustead bought a drugstore in the small town of Wall, South Dakota. The city of Wall had less than 500 people, and although there were some travelers who drove past on the nearby highway on their way to other places, the store was struggling due to a lack of customers.<\/p>\n

\"Photo:
Photo: Wall Drug Store bookstore. Credit: Gena Philibert-Ortega.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In 1936, Dorothy had an idea. \u201cRealizing that all the cars going on Route 16A through the hot, dusty prairie would have thirsty folks inside, she proposed that they put up signs on the highway telling people to come in for free ice water\u2026\u201d (1) While today we are accustomed to bringing ice chests of whatever beverage we want on car trips, Dorothy\u2019s idea was a revolutionary one for the times.<\/p>\n

\"Photo:
Photo: Wall Drug Store interior. Credit: Gena Philibert-Ortega.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Dorothy also thought that even more signs along the highway would help draw more customers in. In 1947, this newspaper article from the Omaha World-Herald<\/em> reported that there were 1,000 signs \u201cextending 800 miles eastward through South Dakota, Iowa, Minnesota, and Wisconsin. It goes two hundred miles west into Wyoming. There are a few southward into Nebraska.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"An<\/a>
Omaha World-Herald (Omaha, Nebraska), 3 August 1947, page 49<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The newspaper article goes on to give the reader an idea of what these signs proclaimed. Like Burma Shave signs they included rhymes and images such as:<\/p>\n