The Hess Truck is one of the most beloved holiday traditions not to mention a favorite of collectors for several decades. In celebration of the holiday season, here’s some festive Hess Truck trivia that you can use to amuse your friends and best your enemies!

  1. The classic The Hess Truck is back! jingle from the commercials is to the tune of My Boyfriend’s Back, the 1963 hit for The Angels.
  2. The first Hess Truck came out in 1964 cost just $1.29 and included a battery.
  3. The 2010 Hess Truck cost $25.99.
  4. Hess Trucks still come with a battery to this day. In modern times, it is always an Energizer battery.
  5. Hess operates out of New Jersey.
  6. Over the years, the Hess “Truck” has been a space shuttle, planes, jeeps, vans, police patrol cars and other non-standard trucks. (You can see photos of every truck made at http://www.hesstoytruck.com, their official site.)
  7. Many of the Hess Trucks are also coin banks.
  8. For some years, Hess released special edition gold grill models only to shareholders and other VIPs that are very sought after by collectors.
  9. Leon Hess created the Hess Truck to give back to his customers by offering a well made toy for the holidays that was a great value.
  10. Some Hess Trucks are very collectible with the original Hess truck often fetching between $1,000 to $2,000 when sold.

We’ve put together a little gallery of the Hess Trucks through the years. Which ones did you love as a kid?