Hess Oil and Chemical Corporation was a company that began in the 1930s by Leon Hess of New Jersey to distribute heating oil. It expanded over the years to include refining and marketing of heating oil and other petroleum products through terminals and gasoline stations. In 1968, Hess Oil and Chemical Corporation merged with Amerada Petroleum Corporation into Amerada Hess Corporation (NYSE: HES). Since 2006, the merged company has been called Hess Corporation. Before the merger, Hess Oil and Chemical developed the Hess Oil Virgin Islands Corporation (HOVIC) Refinery on St. Croix, united States Virgin Islands, at the time the largest oil refinery in the world. HOVIC is still operating under the name HOVENSA a joint venture with PDVSA and is 50% owned by Hess Corporation. HOVENSA announced plans to close later on in the year on January 18, 2012. Above is a picture of the original Hess Voyager Tanker Ship that was used to delivery the oil to the refineries.

1964 Hess Truck Newspaper Ad

This is a great item that I had in my many files of Hess memorabilia. Check out this 1964 newspaper advertisement announcing the sale of the new "Hess Transport Truck" that would be available at the stations for $1.39. It goes on to say that it is a $3.99 value and comes completely assembled with working lights! These were the first of its kind as no other gas stations were offering toy trucks up until this. Hess has gone on to lead the way in quality and detail ever since.

1966 Hess Voyager Ship

This is the second edition in the Hess Toy Trucks collection and is a replica of the real ship that was used to transport oil. The ship has real working clear lights on the bow and stern as well as red & green lights on the port and starboard sides of the ship. Some of the other features on it is a prop, rudder and anchors on each side of the bow. There are wheels on the bottom of the Voyager which made it prone to damage to things like the prop or rudder which would break off when the child would roll it across the floor or carpet! Believe it or not if you broke some pieces you could actually call Hess and they would send you replacement parts years ago. This is another one of my favorite pieces in the collection mainly because of the amazing detail Hess puts into all of their toys from the smallest of lights to the many chrome accents.

1964 Hess Tanker Truck Cut-Out Advertisement

This was a great item to acquire and most people have never even seen these before. Pictured above is a cut-out advertisement announcing that the Hess tanker would be available at the stations on November 15th 1964 and you could purchase it for only $1.39! Can you believe that? It sold at the stations for $1.39 back then and is worth upwards of $2000.00 today! The ad goes on to show you all the things that are on the Hess Tanker such as how the headlight and taillights work and how to install the battery among other things. The 1964 Hess Tanker is the smallest of all the regular released trucks in the collection but has always been a favorite of collectors!

My First 1964 Hess Tanker Truck

Hello and welcome to my new blog

Here I will post pictures and talk about the wonderful hobby of selling and collecting toy trucks. I am excited to talk about the rush you get when you find that truck that you never thought you would ever locate and hold it in your hands at last. My favorite passion is the collecting of Hess Toy Trucks. I remember the time that I finally acquired the Rare 1964 Hess Toy Truck Tanker. Wow, at last I had one for my collection. If you are a collector I would like to hear some of your stories. Until my next blog....