SARATOGA SPRINGS – Hudson “Hud” Armstrong, a longtime Saratoga Springs bartender-artist-cartoonist, has a new book featuring hundreds of his cartoons that were published in Poor Richard’s Journal from 1991 to 2006.
“Booker D. and the N.G.s: A Chronicle of Saratoga” was published July 8 by Northshire Bookstore’s Shire Press. Copies of the book are on sale at Northshire’s store at 424 Broadway in Saratoga Springs or can be ordered via the store’s website: https://www.northshire.com/book/9781605715728 (webpage includes Hud’s bio).
Hud’s cartoons compilation follows Booker D. and the N.G.s (New Guys) as they navigate life in a rapidly changing upstate New York town known for its “health, history and horses.” Hud’s characters, many of them based on
friends and coworkers he has known for decades, offer their observations on everything from current events to sports, upstate weather, Saratoga’s rich history and its love-hate relationship with the crowds who flock here every racing season.
Hud grew up in the town of Wilton and graduated from South Glens Falls High School. He served in the U.S. Army in Vietnam in the late 1960s. A couple years after returning home, he started bartending in 1970 at the newly opened Tin & Lint bar at 2 Caroline Street in downtown Saratoga. He has been there, off and on, ever since, giving him with a front-row seat during the city’s revival over the past half-century and providing plenty of characters to draw upon for his artwork and cartoons (he also bartended at The Hub, Siro’s, Professor Moriarty’s and 9 Maple whiskey bar, to name a few).
Hud’s work adorns the T&L’s walls, and his large murals were distinctive features for years at The Hub bar (was on Church Street where parking lot is located across from Bowtie Cinemas) and at Gaffney’s on Caroline Street during John Baker’s 35-year ownership. A sports fan since he was a boy, Hud’s specialized in creating hand-drawn collages of some of professional baseball, football and basketball’s all-time greats, and his colorful, distinctive posters for football pools and Super Bowl squares were fixtures at local bars for years.
Hud currently works Tuesdays and Thursdays at the T&L. Stop in and visit a Saratoga original!
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