In Charlotte, it wasn’t your typical drugstore opening

On this day in 1931: To mark the opening of its first Charlotte drugstore, Walgreen offers 50 customers free rides in a Sikorsky twin-engine amphibian — said to be the first company-owned and -operated aircraft in the U.S.

“See Charlotte from the air,” the ad urges. “You’ll get a a great thrill — you’ll feel supremely safe — and you’ll enjoy an experience that you will talk about for months to come. . . . This is the same type plane used by the Prince of Wales on his South American trip.”