0:01

This. Episode is brought to you by

0:03

travel South Dakota. Every year

0:05

on June fifth, South Dakotans celebrate

0:07

Six O Five Day in Six

0:09

O Five Style. That is because

0:11

that is the states only area

0:13

code. Six O, Five and Six

0:16

O Five Day is all about

0:18

celebrating everything that South Dakota has

0:20

to offer to both locals and

0:22

travelers. It's obviously famous for Mount

0:24

Rushmore, but South Dakota it is.

0:27

Beautiful. It is rich

0:29

with incredible travel opportunities and just

0:31

a ton of amazing places. It's

0:34

got things like the Dinosaur park,

0:36

Kokomo in the Porter Sculpture Gardens,

0:38

and way more. It is so

0:40

much more than Mount Rushmore. I

0:43

cannot even tell you. it is

0:45

a place rich in spirit and

0:47

freedom and optimism. I really love

0:49

South Dakota and through forever six

0:52

o' Five you can learn how

0:54

impactful your travel can be and

0:56

sign the pledged. To travel

0:58

passionately, but also respectfully.

1:01

Find. More at Forever Six

1:03

o' five.com. There's. So

1:05

much South Dakota. So. Little

1:07

time, And. In.

1:12

The Town of War South Dakota

1:15

population seven hundred. There is a

1:17

store called Wall Drug. War Drug

1:19

is. well it's a drugstore kind

1:22

of. It has a drugstore and

1:24

cells. pretty much anything you'd find

1:26

in a pharmacy. but it is

1:29

also a collection of lots of

1:31

other stores to. There's a camping

1:33

and outdoor gear store. There is

1:36

a hole in the wall bookstore,

1:38

we have western clothing we have

1:40

six thousand and there's a cowboy.

1:43

Boots on display. Not to mention

1:45

Calamity Jane Story Emporium. We have

1:47

a rak share that is also

1:50

very particular. People like rats. Okay,

1:52

so maybe will drug is more

1:55

like maybe it's more like a

1:57

mall. But then again,

1:59

it's also. Quite a bit

2:01

more than a mall. There's a chapel.

2:03

There's a spot up back where you

2:06

can plan for gold. There is a

2:08

miniature replica of Mount Rushmore. The real

2:10

one is just about an hour's drive

2:12

away, so maybe Will Drug is kind

2:14

of like a little town. But

2:18

that kind of weaves out

2:20

the giant dinosaurs we ever

2:22

worked. Rick Steiner sort of

2:24

performs every twelve minutes. A

2:26

life size was sound and

2:28

smoke. Sometimes the little

2:31

kids run out of the building

2:33

at high speed as it gets

2:35

Frame good instincts. Owner

2:38

recuse. Dad has his own way

2:40

of describing exactly what was Rogers.

2:43

I think it's the most fun.

2:45

Roadside Attraction in America.

2:55

I'm doing terrorists and this

2:57

is Atlas Obscura. A celebration

2:59

of the world. Strange, incredible

3:01

and wondrous places. This episode

3:04

was produced in partnership with

3:06

Travel South Dakota and today

3:08

we will follow how a

3:10

little pharmacy on the edge

3:12

of the South Dakota badlands

3:14

went from no Business Bureau

3:16

business to getting millions of

3:18

visitors every year. It's a

3:20

story that started with an

3:22

ingenious marketing gimmick and today

3:24

involves giant dinosaurs mythological. Jack

3:26

Rabbits And so many

3:28

doughnuts! Story

3:48

starts back in nineteen Thirty six on

3:50

the very edge of the South Dakota

3:52

Badlands and Dorothy use Dead is sitting

3:54

next to the window. She's just put

3:57

her kids down for a nap. She

3:59

just try the catch a cool breeze

4:01

get some sleep. She couldn't sleep because

4:04

because said drawn a tourist stars coming

4:06

out of the badlands like us sixteen

4:08

and fourteen. That's.

4:11

Recuse that again. That is Dorothy's grandson.

4:14

And would dorothy was thinking about is

4:16

how all these cars are going by

4:18

and not a one of them. Is.

4:20

Stopping at our family store. The.

4:23

Use that family pharmacy in the town of

4:25

Wall. The. Name all by the

4:27

way comes from the National Wall of

4:29

Rock Formations on the edge of the

4:31

Badlands. Picture these big beautiful view since

4:33

spires of rock off striped in different

4:35

colors. Anyway, Dorothy.

4:38

And her husband Ted had moved

4:40

to Wall in nineteen thirty one

4:42

and Ted wanted to open a

4:44

drugstore. Dorothy father had said this

4:46

is a bad idea mean this

4:48

was in the middle of the

4:50

Great depression is really was tell

4:52

the middle of nowhere of with

4:54

the the thought of was a

4:56

good choice about that time I've

4:58

got some work on was already

5:00

working on sculpting Mount Rushmore. it's

5:02

so they thought. Will. Get

5:05

started there in that if we make it to

5:07

when they served Mount Rushmore, there should be a

5:09

lot are trapped. In there were

5:11

given a five years. As

5:14

the first five years,

5:16

word get. It

5:19

was really tough. There's one talks about

5:21

one broke or the reliving the back

5:23

twenty to the store with their four

5:25

year old son Billy my dad and

5:27

they were Sarah. So. There's

5:29

Dorothy sitting in that very

5:31

hot room watching the cars

5:33

drive by. The best says

5:35

ninety thirty six cars to

5:37

never air conditioners and with

5:40

a pact dirt road and

5:42

Dorothy thought of hot and

5:44

to receive these travelers are

5:46

to recep with all the

5:48

ice and water in the

5:50

world and know customers. Then

5:52

Dorothy had one of those

5:54

light bulb moment. She had

5:56

an idea. the cemented head.

5:59

And told him they need. The put up a big

6:01

sign on the road said all the

6:03

tourists would see who are driving through

6:05

the badlands. Dorothy. Was an

6:07

English major as yeah down the

6:10

story set. Ten gotta let people

6:12

know we're here. I think we

6:14

should put up a science, get

6:16

a soda, get a fair turn.

6:18

Next corner just as erupts to

6:21

i was sixteen and forty three

6:23

I slaughtered at school drugstore. It's

6:25

just that that and according to

6:27

my work. She

6:30

also changed the name of the

6:32

store from Houston Drug to well,

6:34

Drugs. Just a bit catchier that

6:36

way. Little easier to fit

6:38

on the billboard. He went off

6:40

and directed that of the science

6:43

and before he got fact the

6:45

first customer said already stop and

6:47

they were having classes, the free

6:50

I slaughtered and getting an ice

6:52

cream gone as soon as Max

6:55

can. They were

6:57

on their way. The

6:59

sign turned out to be like

7:01

a monster hit. People

7:04

just kept on coming. They

7:06

really. Were hot and sweaty and

7:08

they really wanted that ice water so

7:10

it had thought okay. Not. Worth.

7:13

What? Else can we do what we do to keep this

7:15

going? And just saw this one

7:17

was right side. Would work public

7:19

Twenty or thirty two. And

7:22

he kept putting up signs in

7:24

both directions. and. That

7:26

would work or broke anymore. In.

7:28

Addition to the free ice water

7:30

advertisement, they came up with some

7:32

fun slogans like wall Drug or

7:35

Bust or wall all be drugged.

7:37

Or. Have you dug wall drug?

7:40

Once they erected a sign that said

7:42

only one wall Drugstore. And. Someone

7:44

graffiti it underneath. Thank. God

7:46

for that. Rude

7:49

Rick estimates that there are

7:51

currently. Three. Hundred wool

7:54

drugs signs in South Dakota alone

7:56

around thirty. And my omen. And.

7:58

at one point a problem had close to something

8:01

like 3,000 highway

8:03

signs. Some were even

8:06

further afield. The

8:08

Paris subway of

8:10

the London double-decker buses, we

8:13

had a sign in Amsterdam at

8:15

the docks. We had it for

8:17

years. It got a little expensive.

8:19

Basically, we let that slide. By

8:25

this time, Ted and Dorothy's son Bill was

8:27

getting older. During World War II

8:29

in the 40s, Bill was a teenager going to

8:31

boarding school in Sioux City, Iowa, about 400 miles

8:34

away. And believe it or not,

8:37

for Bill, hitchhiking was the easiest way to get

8:39

there. Because Rick says during the war, there were

8:41

rations on tires and gas and it was really

8:44

hard to get a new car. So

8:46

while hitchhiking, Bill quickly found

8:48

out that those wall-drug billboards

8:50

had a really big reach.

8:54

People would ask him, where are you from,

8:56

young man? He'd say, I'm from Wall. And

8:58

a lot of times, the people would pick

9:01

him up and say, oh, that's that little

9:03

town with that drugstore with

9:05

all those signs, that little drugstore.

9:08

And he found that embarrassing so he quit

9:10

telling him, he was from Wall. He'd say,

9:12

I'm from Wasta. 11 miles

9:14

away, end that conversation. It

9:16

made him think and he thought, boy, you

9:19

know, if I ever did come back into

9:21

the family business, I would really like to

9:23

expand it into something spectacular.

9:28

In the early 1950s, Bill did come

9:30

back into the family business, probably filled

9:32

to bursting with big new ambitious

9:35

ideas. And Ted said, OK,

9:37

sure, fine. But first, I've got a job

9:40

for you. Ted was out

9:42

in San Bernardino, California, and he went

9:44

to this donut shop. And

9:46

they had delicious donuts. And Ted was

9:48

talking to the owner and he said,

9:51

see, could I send my son out to work

9:54

with you for a week, maybe learn how

9:56

to make donuts? And he'd worked

9:58

for free. said, sure,

10:00

send him out. So Bill went out and

10:03

we've been making ever since. After

10:06

he got the donuts down, Bill did

10:08

convince his family to start experimenting with

10:10

the family business. Sam Waldrug could be

10:12

a lot more than a pharmacy and

10:14

a soda counter. It could

10:17

be like a destination onto

10:19

itself. He

10:21

had a big vision, you know,

10:24

for expanding the restaurant. Complete with

10:26

a full art gallery of over

10:28

300 original oil paintings, all with

10:30

a Western theme. Building the

10:32

shopping mall as a Western

10:35

village. I feel obliged to

10:37

mention that this shopping mall includes an

10:40

animatronic quartet of singing cowboys

10:43

called Ted Husted's cowboy

10:45

orchestra. For

10:47

expanding into the backyard, getting

10:50

the giant roaring dinosaur, just

10:53

doing unique things. Ah

10:55

yes, the backyard. Today,

10:58

no trip to Waldrug is

11:00

complete without visiting the backyard because

11:02

once you run away screaming from

11:04

the life-sized T-Rex, you

11:07

can go cool off at the splash pad

11:09

or pan for gold or check out

11:11

the replica Mount Rushmore or pose for

11:14

a photo on an eight

11:16

foot tall Jackalope. And

11:19

perhaps we should explain what a Jackalope

11:21

is. They're Jackrabbits with

11:24

horns. You know, they're

11:26

kind of a mythological creature, but

11:28

people love them. They're cute. Should

11:31

you want to bring home your own Jackalope,

11:34

there are indeed many Jackalope

11:36

stuffed animals on sale inside.

11:40

During Bill's time at the helm of Waldrug,

11:42

he took the family's 1000 square foot store and

11:46

supersized it. In dad's

11:48

48 year career, he

11:50

took Waldrug to 78,000

11:52

square feet. Just

11:56

for scale, that's Somewhere between the

11:58

size of a football field. Than

12:00

your average Walmart. Except

12:02

feel that Walmart with jackal

12:04

ups and giant dinosaurs. Recuse

12:09

Dead is Ted and Dorothy's grandson

12:11

and Bill son. So as you

12:13

can imagine he pretty much grew

12:15

up inside of War Drug. He

12:17

remembers running around and basically making

12:19

mischief there. We had a giant

12:21

mailbox I mean deal was with

12:23

must than seven foot on steps

12:25

up in your put his letters

12:27

us. If we

12:29

would climb up inside that the

12:31

mailbox and people would deposit a

12:33

letter. To move

12:35

it's say says you for mailing your

12:37

letter of what ultra. Fast as

12:40

a bit of the rate of a

12:42

result it'll who at are we as

12:44

fans. At first Rig did not wanna

12:46

go into the family business. He says

12:48

you had to be invited back by

12:50

Bill and Ted so he went into

12:52

teaching instead working as a guidance counselor

12:54

for a bit. but when he was

12:56

in a sturdy is he finally got

12:58

the call. And you can guess

13:00

where Bill put up. Is it thirty

13:03

years old? The first. Thing

13:05

my dad had me do is learn out of makes the

13:07

done. Forty. Years later,

13:09

Rick is still keeping the family business

13:11

going strong. War Drug celebrated its ninetieth

13:14

anniversary in Twenty Twenty One and he's

13:16

even brought a fourth generation of you

13:18

step into the fold. His daughter Sarah

13:20

is now the V. P. N Says

13:22

Sarah did not have to wait quite

13:24

as long as him to get the

13:27

and by. We. pursued her.

13:29

This. Is crazy business to run.

13:33

I. Mean. You. Have to

13:35

love it. You. Have to have the

13:38

fire in the belly Cs all that night

13:40

and I do too. So it's it's them

13:42

fun which are being was there and say

13:44

subgroups lot to the business. And

13:47

we were to go. It. And

13:49

the Zealots Earth in. That's

13:51

fun. Rick says

13:53

that his favorite part of was drug

13:55

is still the restaurant and the don'ts

13:57

my god I said if you want.

14:00

The restaurant to run well

14:02

be a that be in

14:04

the rest. In

14:06

protest of participate. so we

14:08

do, in an effort. A

14:11

surrogate to but but anyway sign

14:13

on the underside car lot I

14:16

saw lot at all, not some

14:18

the maple or the best as

14:20

in their unique because it's like

14:22

maple syrup with buttermilk is just

14:25

a good combination. Sarah, ah points

14:27

out to me by a slight

14:29

margin the chocolate our salsa Maple

14:32

good granted burst the most unique

14:34

for maple. and

14:36

people with really nord or not so

14:38

common in and get him does maple

14:40

tasks but it's nice been really famous

14:42

was a certain full. Anyway,

14:45

we'll have to try one. More

14:49

Drug is open daily from eight am

14:51

to seven pm. It is such a

14:53

place. I went there as a kid

14:56

with my parents was like thirteen. Man

14:58

I have such good memories of exploring

15:00

that place. It is wild! Go and

15:03

take a photo of the Jackal of

15:05

Eden maple don't I? Ah the free

15:07

for veterans. Go to get serenaded by

15:10

Ted's cowboy orchestra. And don't forget to

15:12

get your free ice water. They still

15:14

give away free ice water in peak

15:16

season they do about twenty thousand. Tasaday.

15:21

by the way today's episode is

15:23

being released on june fifth or

15:25

six o five and that's because

15:27

south dakota has only one area

15:29

code and as six o five

15:31

and every june fifth they celebrate

15:33

six o five day by encouraging

15:35

folks to visit sunspot all around

15:37

the state like while drug you

15:40

wanna get some inspiration for your

15:42

next south dakota trip check out

15:44

the hashtag six o five day

15:46

on social media and we will

15:48

post more info in the episode

15:50

description Our

16:08

podcast is a co-production of Atlas

16:10

Obscura and Stitcher Studios. This

16:13

episode was produced by Amanda

16:15

McGowan. The production team includes

16:17

Doug Baldinger, Chris Naka, Camille

16:20

Stanley, Manolo Morales, Baudelaire, Gabby

16:22

Gladney, Johanna Mayer. Our technical

16:25

director is Casey Holford. This

16:27

episode was mixed by Luz

16:29

Fleming. If you want

16:32

to learn more, be sure to visit

16:34

atlasobscura.com. There's a link in our episode

16:36

description. And our theme and end

16:38

credit music is by Sam Tindall. I'm

16:40

Dylan Thuras, wishing you all the wonder

16:42

in the world. I will see

16:44

you next time. Thanks

16:49

to Travel South Dakota for sponsoring this

16:51

episode of Atlas Obscura. South

16:53

Dakota's not your obvious or

16:56

cliche destination. And this year

16:58

for 605 Day, you

17:00

can learn more about the culture, the

17:02

mystery, the surprise that is packed into

17:04

South Dakota. And representative

17:07

of the state's only area code, 605 Day

17:10

is all about celebrating everything

17:12

that South Dakota has to offer

17:14

both locals and travelers. Through

17:17

Forever 605, you can find things

17:19

like the Petrified Forest, the National

17:22

Music Museum, and the

17:24

Termosphere Gallery. You can also

17:26

learn about how your travel habits can

17:28

impact a local community and

17:30

sign the pledge to help travel

17:32

respectfully. Find out more at

17:35

forever605.com. There is so much South

17:37

Dakota and so little time.