The great Marx Toy Company

Today I think that I am going to write about who was responsible for producing the earlier Hess trucks and about the amazing detail that was put into them from this great toy company. What company am I talking about you ask? Why only the greatest toy company ever, The Marx Toy Company. Louis Marx founded the company in 1919. During the height of the Great Depression in the 1930’s, when most people saw the worst in the economy Mr. Marx saw only opportunity. He opened factories in Erie and Girard, PA, along with the largest facility in Glen Dale, West Virginia. During the 1950’s, Louis Marx & Co. became the largest toy manufacturer in the world with over one-third of all toys in the U.S. being Marx toys.  He was once described as “The Toy King,” and was admired by everyone so much so that he was featured on the cover of Time Magazine in 1955. From 1964 to 1971, Marx produced the promotional vehicles for the Hess Oil Company. The photo above show the 1964/5 B-Mack tanker truck (the first truck), the 1967 "Red Velvet" Hess truck, and the 1970/1 Hess Fire Truck. They also produced a line of service stations (see picture above) that were a ton of fun for the kids and a lot of them used the Hess trucks in some of their displays. Marx was also responsible for many metal toy trucks (pictured above) that were all from daily life such as dump trucks, tow trucks, fire trucks, army vehicles as well as box delivery trucks. In 1972 Louis Marx was 76 years old and finally had to sell the company. The company went on but was never as successful as when Louis Marx was running it and so the company started to decline and finally went out of business. Despite the closing Louis Marx and his company are a big part of history. I'm sure the joy that they brought children, young & old, still live on for generations and the children growing up take up this great hobby of collecting toys as I have. My favorite saying is that "toys are great fun for all kids and the kid in all of us".

The Rare 1967 Hess Red Velvet Tanker

This is probably one of my most favorite trucks out of the whole Hess collection mainly because of the colors and great detail that was put into this year's edition. Measuring 13.5 inches it would become the standard size for the older green and yellow tankers in the Hess collection. This is also the first truck in the series that came with a red velvet base that was also used as the bottom of the box. Often called the "Red Velvet" by most collectors the chrome detail on this truck is exceptional right down to the mirrors on the cab. Most people are not aware that there are actually 3 decal versions of this truck. Here are the decal differences in order of value starting with the least valuable first. The most common decal version has the "gasoline" decal on the passengers side of the cab, the second decal version has the "Fuel Oils" decal on the passengers side of the cab and finally the rarest of them all has the "Chemicals" decal on the rear tanker on the drivers side. This third one was only given to the Hess employees in the Virgin Islands and not available to the public. On all of the versions there is no "Marx" symbol on the battery door cover.  The box top has some differences from the other years as well with it being made of stronger cardboard, a shiny finish and the end of the box reads "Made in America". The set also came with a Season's Greetings card as well as a battery instruction card. What a great holiday toy that could be purchased at the stations for a mere $1.99! Today this item in mint condition sells for well over $2000.00 and is difficult to find all original.

This story is about how the 1966 Hess Voyager toy ship came about. As with all processes there are prototypes that are shopped around to get the companies to purchase the idea and put it into production. I thought that alot of you out there would be interested in seeing a picture of the prototype that later became the 2nd edition of the Hess toy collection. If you look closely you will notice that there are no decals on the ship or any company names on the box. If younotice on the left side of the battery card there is a front view of the ship on the prototype card that was later replaced with the different companies logo in that area. This area is where Hess and the other companies such as Service, Wilco, Travelers & Etna that also used the mold put their names.

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!