This Hess Toy Keeps on Truckin'

Driving his father’s tanker truck around Asbury Park, N.J., in 1933, 19-year-old Leon Hess probably had little inkling that he would become one of America’s most successful businessmen—and, almost as an afterthought, create one of the most successful holiday toys in history. 

The business is petroleum colossus Hess Corporation. And the toy, of course, is the Hess Toy Truck, a yearly limited edition so popular that it always sells out. “Families across the country have a new truck to look forward to each year and know that it will be something special because of the quality,” said Toy Truck gm Justin Mayer. “They last for many years and the collection grows across generations within families.”

But none of this looked likely to a young Leon Hess in the worst year of the Great Depression. Indeed, the family business failed soon after. But Hess possessed management skills beyond his years. He reorganized the company and got it running again. Then Hess bought a bunch of old oil tankers and turned them into a terminal in Perth Amboy, N.J. When WWII came, Hess served as Gen. George Patton’s fuel-supply officer. And when the fighting was over, Hess returned to New Jersey, built his own refinery and began opening gas stations under his name.

In 1964, a now-prosperous Hess decided to do something nice for his customers and began selling a toy truck for the holidays. Though he insisted on top quality, Hess priced the truck at just $1.29 ($10.56 in today’s currency). By keeping the supply limited and stocking the toys only at his gas stations, Hess had also, unsurprisingly, devised an excellent marketing tool—not least because the trucks rolled the Hess name and company colors right into American living rooms.

Boys were entranced by the trucks’ level of detail. The first model—a 1964 B61 Mack tanker—featured working head- and taillights, rubber wheels and a fuel tank you could fill with water and drain with a hose. To this day, the trucks feature up to 300 parts. But it was dad who ultimately drove the sale, and for him, the truck boasted another attractive feature: a facilitator for male bonding. Well into the 1980s, TV ads for the Hess Toy Truck showed fathers and sons playing with the trucks on Christmas morning.

“They created a tradition among kids and their dads of getting one every year,” observes Chris Bensch, chief curator of the Strong National Museum of Play. “And now, they have momentum. It’s not Christmas without a Hess truck—whether it’s for kids or for dad.”

The momentum was such that, even after Hess Corp. sold off all of its gas stations in 2014, moving truck sales online, the demand remains as high as it always was. The truck (whose price has risen to $33.99 for 2018’s model) still sells out, and fans now wait for a text alert that arrives around Thanksgiving, telling them when that year’s truck will go on sale. Those who don’t sign up see the company’s TV spots that retain the catchline, “The Hess truck’s back, and it’s better than ever!”

“For many families, Thanksgiving Day started with a trip to a Hess gas station before the turkey even went in the oven,” Mayer added. “Even now, fans tell us they look forward to seeing the newest Hess Toy Truck commercial on TV because it marks the beginning of the holiday season.”