Hess May Sell Their Gas Stations, But Signature Toy Trucks Will Remain

Aficiandos of Hess toy trucks can rest assured that Christmas sales of their toy trucks will continue at the corporation's convenience stores.

Recent headlines announcing Hess Corporation's exit from the energy marketing and refining end of its global business will not affect what is perhaps its second-most-coveted consumer item after the petrol: the Hess Toy Truck. "The toy trucks which have been a tradition for 48 years will continue," a Hess spokesperson said, adding that "this November, the company will continue to sell the trucks at their stores." Since 1964, Hess Corporation has sold its classic toy trucks; offering a variety of collectible miniature trucks to consumers at the start of the holiday season each year in November. Despite the corporation's impending closure of its 1,350 retail gas stations, consumers will still be able to find the eclectic toys at Hess …

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Five Things You Need To Know About Christmas

From lighting your mouth on fire to taking on the Puritans' Christmas ban, learn some holly jolly Christmas facts.

Whether your love of Christmas is rooted in religion or you’re more of the “be good for goodness sake” variety, the Christmas trappings are common to all of us who celebrate the season: the trees, the candy canes, the bird poop-inspired traditions. Just trust us. Here are five things you need to know about Christmas. 1. Americans buy 25-30 million Christmas trees annually, according to the National Christmas Tree Association (Yes, such a group exists.) And at any one time, there are 350 million Christmas trees growing on tree farms in the U.S. — that’s almost 42 million more Christmas trees than people living in America. 2. What’s your favorite Christmas tradition? A Yule log? Cookie baking? Bor-ing. Snapdragon is where it’s at. Snapdragon…

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Berkeley Dispatch

Ghosts of Christmas Past

Go home again, while you still can

I read an online column last year during the holiday season written by Jodi Helmer, a native Canadian who for various reasons wouldn't be home for Christmas. Her article was entitled "Home for the Holidays...Not This Year." Her parents beseeched her annually to make the trek up north. But for the last decade, her answer has always been no. She loves her family, but prefers to visit at other times of the year. She prattled on about how cold it is in Toronto in December, how hectic her "close-knit little clan" is at Christmas. Somebody's always doing something, she said. Christmas can be tough, I'll give you that. But the stress is largely man-made. There's no need to max out credit cards, shop till you drop, turn out a gross of cholesterol-…

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