A postcard was sent from George Hontos to his parents. On the back, it is hand-addressed in script to "Mr. + Mrs. Hontos. 3721. N. Albany Chicago Ill." (3 lines) Message on the left, handwritten in script, says: "Arrived. O.K. and everything is fine. If any letter comes from Guy kept it till latter. Don't worry" (6 lines) in ink and: "Leaving called for Camp Wallis Texas" (2 lines) in pencil and: "Geo." in ink at the bottom. Circular Chicago postmark stamp in top center: "Jan 15, 2:30 PM, 1942." Right above the printed words "POST CARD" and handwritten address is a rectangular stamp that says "BUY DEFENSE SAVINGS BONDS AND STAMPS." A green "U.S. Industry-Agriculture for Defense" 1-cent stamp with the Statue of Liberty is in the upper right corner, slightly askew. A vertical line of printed text in the center of the postcard reads: "Genuine Curteich-Chicago "C.T. Art-Colortone" Post Card (Reg. U.S. Pat. Off.)" in all caps. A vertical line of printed text at the left edge reads: "C.T. ARMY COMICS". On the front of the postcard is a cartoon depicting two soldiers carrying large artillery rounds (at right) with three other soldiers manning a cannon in the background (at left). One of these soldiers, standing to the left of the cannon says "Hurry up!" (the words are inside a small text bubble over his left shoulder). One of the men carrying an artillery round replies "Hey! Don't shoot so many --- my back is almost busted carrying these blankity things - D---!" In the left corner is a brown and black dog. Three more cannons are firing in the background, with smoke clouds and the words "BOOM" coming from their barrels. The postcard is very colorful. The sky at the left is bright orange, and the cannons are set on a low green hill with a yellow-brown foreground. Behind the two men carrying rounds is a large green cloud with a larger text bubble inside it. Under the image, the postcard sequence number "1B-H453" is printed in the bottom right corner, and "© CURT TEICH & CO., INC." is printed in the bottom left corner. Above the image in the top right corner is printed "USA-21" in italics.

George James Hontos was born in Chicago, Illinois on March 27th, 1920. The son of James and Cornelia Hontos, brother of Dimitra, Arthur, and John, who also served in the United States Navy. Two weeks following the Pearl Harbor disaster, he was called to serve his country in the Army. He trained for six months at Camps Hulen and Wallace, Tex. On March 1, 1942, the 434th Coast Artillery Battalion (Anti-Aircraft) was activated. With this outfit, he was sent to England. After the completion of training, they took part in the liberation of Africa. George died from a landmine left by the Nazis, trying to aid some wounded women and children in Tunisia, on May 24th, 1943. Private George J. Hontos was posthumously awarded the Soldier's Medal and the Purple Heart.

Hontos sent this postcard to his parents to let them know he arrived safely (possibly at basic training?) and informs them that he is moving to Camp Wallace, Texas.

Curt Teich & Co. opened in 1898 in Chicago and closed in 1978, and was the world's largest postcard printer. They are best known for the "Greetings from" postcards with bold letters and color. They produced C.T. Army comic postcards during WWII.

The content on this site is made available for research and education purposes only. The use of these materials may be restricted by law or the donor.

Any other use, such as exhibition, publication, or commercial use, is not allowed except by written permission in accordance with the NHM Image Rights and Reproduction Policy.

For questions on image rights and reproduction, please contact nhmcollections@hellenicmuseum.org