Hasty Pudding Expects to Start Asking For Proof at Club's Bar

The under-21 crowd will soon be sipping Shirley Temples instead of scotch and soda in the Hasty Pudding's bar.

Since Saturday's Alcoholic Beverage Control investigation, club manager James G. Sullivan expects the Pudding will "ask for some sort of I.D." He said "Some new, more rigid check system will be initiated--whatever's easiest for the bartender."

Not even the ABC knows what the investigation will uncover. According to the ABC's chief investigator, a violation has been found, but details won't be released until a hearing at the next ABC Commission session.

Then, the ABC authorities can either keep the case or send it to the local courts or local license boards.

The Hasty Pudding may just get a warning, Sullivan said. But strict I.D. checking will be "a pain in the rear end," according to one Harvard senior, who said most of the girls he dates are under 21. Another agreed that he "wouldn't take girls there as often in the future." He added, "If they did shut the bar, people wouldn't go there as often."

If the bar ultimately closes, the club could be in deep financial trouble. They lose money on meals and make it up on the bar, one Pudding member said. Closing the bar also will reduce the number of guest meals, one of the Pudding's sources of income.

In past years the Hasty Pudding has made large amounts of money from the bar during its annual theatricals. The club originally planned to contribute profits from this year's shows to charity.