Free cup of ice water...

On our cross-country trip headed west to Billings, Devin and I came across hundreds of billboards along Interstate 90. Now, of course most highways have billboards (too many if you ask me and good ol' Theo Roosevelt. But these billboards in particular caught our attention. 'Free Ice Water', '5 Cent Hot Coffee', Take Your Picture With A Buffalo!' Where can you find all this?! Why...Wall, SD of course!

Our landlords had clued us in on this tourist spot. The history of this once small drug store located in a 231 person town referred to as 'the middle of nowhere' is actually very interesting, and apparently world-renown! 

Business was slow for Ted and Dorothy Hustead in 1931...and it continued to struggle for five more years until Dorothy got the idea to advertise 'free ice water' to the dried out travelers heading on the interstate. (Mount Rushmore monument had just opened to the west of them). From that moment on, the rest (as they say) was history. It is actually said that by the time Ted got back from posting the sign at the highway, tourists were lined up for their free ice water!

To this day, Wall Drug has grown dramatically and now is the home of a western art museum, a chapel, an 80 foot dinosaur (including Dinosaur Park and Dinosaur World), and of course...a buffalo or two.

It is also said they have over 500 miles of billboards on Interstate 90, stretching from Minnesota to Billings, MT. 


Another fun fact is that customers of Wall Drug have returned home (traveling from anywhere around the world) erecting signs announcing the miles between Wall Drug, SD and their hometown. They also give away bumper stickers which ask 'Where is Wall Drug'? At least today...a few more people can answer that question.


So...how many free cups of water DO they give away per day? Doing a little research, I found that (in 1981), they claimed to be giving away 20,000 cups of water during peak tourist season (Memorial Day - Labor Day), and during the hottest days of the summer. That was almost thirty years ago. Can you imagine the numbers today?


Oh, and by the way...we got that picture with a buffalo :-)...