Despite unofficial reports that Ernst F. S. “Putzy” Hanfstaengl had flown to West Point from Boston yesterday, no one at the United States Military Academy knew anything about his presence.
The bust-bearing, piano playing Hitler lullaby man was supposed to have gone to the academy as a private citizen, for the express purpose of presenting the institution with a sculptured portrait of Field Marshal von Hindenburg, president of the Reich.
West Point officials said they had not invited Hanfstaengl and called attention to a recent ruling of the adjutant department, which had decided that “Putzy” could not be received as a representative of the German government.
Reports also were current in New York City yesterday that the head of the Nazi press department might revisit the Stork Club, on Fifty-first street, where he had spent some time sampling the establishment’s gin prior to his departure for his Harvard class reunion, although these reports were denied by a spokesman for the club, who intimated that, should Hanfstaengl decide to pay it another visit, he would be given a “cold shoulder.”
The Stork Club was the scene of a baby shower last evening for Jack Dempsey, whose wife expects a baby in a month.
Among the guests was Maxie Baer, who was asked what his reaction would be if “Putzy” were to show up.
“I’d try to hire him as a stooge for my act at the Paramount Theatre,” said the heavyweight champion.
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
