The Power of Advertising

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As seen in: “From 500 Places to Take
Your Kids Before They Grow Up”
by Holly Hughes, Fromner’s, Wiley Publishing.

Wall Drug

At the other end of South Dakota’s I-90 corridor, Wall Drug is a one-of-a-kind phenomenon; a wayside stop that just kept growing and growing. It all began in the Depression, when nearby Mount Rushmore was still under scaffolding, years away from attracting travelers to this middle-of-nowhere burg.

Desperate for business, Wall Drug’s owners, Ted and Dorothy Hustead, put up signs on the highway advertising free ice water to thirsty travelers. Motorists poured in.

Now convinced of the power of advertising, the Husteads planted more and more billboards, until they even began to appear in foreign countries. In the 1960s, the Highway Beautification Act severely limited Wall Drug’s billboard campaign, but still the tourists came; and over the years the Husteads (who still own the place, though it’s now in the hands of the third generation) have added more and more popular features to draw them in.

Some 20,000 people a day, it’s estimated, pull off the road to mill around this shambling low-slung complex, so extensive that is scarcely seems like a drugstore anymore. (There is a replica of the original small pharmacy inside, however.)

Along with a “mall” of 26 little shops. Wall Drug has a restaurant, a vast postcard store, a gallery selling Western art, displays of Native American artifacts, a mechanical diorama of an American Indian village and a mocked-up main street of a Western town. But wait! There’s more! Animated figures tucked into every available niche “speak” to the customers, including a roaring T-Rex. Out in the backyard stand king-size plaster figures of a bucking bronco, a rabbit and the mythical jackalope and an 80-foot-long green brontosaurus statue benignly casts its shade over the children’s play area.

Editors Note: A short time before I read this article in the above-mentioned book, I saw a car in my local neighborhood (mind you, I live in southeast Michigan) with a bumper sticker that said “Wall Drug.” It caught my attention and made me wonder what it was promoting. Oh, the power of advertising!

Backyard Excursions is a travel idea resource guide providing a rich variety of destinations and attractions in the Great Lake states including Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Wisconsin and Illinois. Discover great vacation ideas including family activities, romantic getaways, accommodations, entertainment, shopping, tours, museums, sports, recreation activities and more, all in “your own BACKYARD." Visit locations in Michigan like Frankenmuth, Mackinaw, Traverse City, Bay City, Midland and Ludington. Take a road trip to Shipshewana, Indianapolis, Fort Wayne, South Bend, Greenfield or Antique Alley, Indiana. Explore Toledo, Cleveland, Columbus, Dayton, Youngstown and Put-in-Bay, Ohio. Take an excursion to Chicago, Springfield, Peoria or Rock Island, Illinois. Plan a weekend in Green Bay, Black River Falls, Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin Dells or Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

The destinations are endless, yet not so far away.