The Poe-Toaster

January 20, 2003 8:39 AM

"There are some secrets that do not permit themselves to be revealed." Every January 19, for the past 54 years, a mysterious man dressed in black has crept into a cemetery in Baltimore to place three red roses and a half-empty bottle of cognac on the grave of Edgar Allan Poe.
posted by biscotti (33 comments total)

that's pretty wild!
posted by Peter H at 8:46 AM on January 20, 2003

54 years? How old does that make the Poe Toaster? Didn't Poe write a story about a toaster, the Pit and the Pop Tart or something?
posted by klaatu at 8:48 AM on January 20, 2003

How come the cops never nail him for trespassing?
posted by alumshubby at 8:51 AM on January 20, 2003

It's Stan Chin.
posted by The Jesse Helms at 8:52 AM on January 20, 2003

klaatu - I recognize your comment as a joke... but I don't for a minute pretend to understand it.
posted by jonson at 8:52 AM on January 20, 2003

Actually, I think they got a note a few years back saying the original visitor had died (1998ish) and that the duties had been passed on to his son/s.
posted by RavinDave at 8:52 AM on January 20, 2003

posted by muckster at 9:14 AM on January 20, 2003

Who the hell's that? The guy who comes by later and drinks the cognac?
posted by RavinDave at 9:26 AM on January 20, 2003

alumshubby:
with a desire to preserve the sanctity of the performance of the ritual, no attempt has ever been made to stop or hinder this enigmatic admirer.
posted by jodic at 9:36 AM on January 20, 2003

Dave: I seem to recall reading in the story about this in the local rag (sorry, no link) that they got a note in 1996 saying simply "the torch has been passed." The article then quoted a fellow -- the head of the local Poe Appreciation League or somesuch -- who said he believed that the original toaster was a black man and he has passed it on to his two (or three) sons.
posted by lupus_yonderboy at 9:54 AM on January 20, 2003

I visited Poe's grave while in Baltimore some years ago. It's a very unassuming site, and his headstone was covered with pennies. Quite powerful.
posted by tr33hggr at 9:59 AM on January 20, 2003

Wouldn't Poe Toaster be a pun on Poetaster? And wouldn't that be a bit cheeky?
posted by Grangousier at 10:14 AM on January 20, 2003

I visited Poe's grave while in Baltimore some years ago. It's a very unassuming site, and his headstone was covered with pennies. Quite powerful.

Howard Hughes' grave was also covered in money, even dollar bills. I thought I grasped the point of this, richest man so throw some money on his grave, as you can't take it with you, Howard.

Money left on a poet's grave?
posted by thomcatspike at 10:22 AM on January 20, 2003

I visited the gravesite, too -- I was already aware of the roses/cognac tradition, which is really cool. Poe was a wonderful poet who led a terribly sad life

Must-have for Poe-lovers: "Closed on Account of Rabies: Poems and Tales of Edgar Allan Poe", double CD with poetry readings by Iggy Pop, Abel Ferrara, Jeff Buckley, Christopher Walken et. al.
posted by matteo at 10:25 AM on January 20, 2003

New theory on Poe's death -- carbon monoxide poisoning?
posted by matteo at 10:30 AM on January 20, 2003

From a link from one of the pages above, a visitor's description of the event:

The man, dressed in pretty conventional clothes, runs into the church yard, despite the people at the front gates, and he quickly comes and leaves his tribute to Poe, and run away, as fast as he got there.

Sad that the guy feels he has to run in and out...it hardly seems dignified -- less a remembrance than a stunt.

Reminds me of going to Charles Kuralt's grave in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. I thought an appropriate tribute would be to leave some flowers from one of the Franklin Street flower ladies. I had to wait for the camera crews to finish shooting the grave before I left my flowers. Then I turned to see that a crew had been taping me doing so and wanted to interview me. I declined the interview and had to talk them out of using the footage of me. sigh.
posted by Vidiot at 10:33 AM on January 20, 2003

man in black
posted by Big_B at 10:42 AM on January 20, 2003

If this tribute began in 1949, it would have coincided with the 100th anniversary of the poets death. Interesting.

I'm surprised that this tradition hasn't spawned a host of copycat "toasters".
posted by aladfar at 11:01 AM on January 20, 2003

Isn't there some lady in red garb is is said to visit whatshisname's grave--The Sheik (in films)...ah, Rudophy Valentino! on a yearly basis and about whom nothing in known?

Remninds me of the remarkable line tossed out at the NY Madison Sq Garden Rolling Stone concert in which Richards said: It's nice to be here. It's nice to be anywhere.
posted by Postroad at 11:08 AM on January 20, 2003

I'm surprised that this tradition hasn't spawned a host of copycat "toasters".

I leave a half bottle of warm Golden Anniversary on Roy Cohn's grave every February 20th.
posted by PinkStainlessTail at 11:14 AM on January 20, 2003

yawn. i gobble seconal and dewar's and leave a puddle of vomit on jim morrison's grave.
posted by quonsar at 11:27 AM on January 20, 2003

Rock on, quonsar! A suitable tribute if there ever was one.
posted by ashbury at 11:33 AM on January 20, 2003

We used to toast and leave Jack Daniels on Ronnie Van Zandts grave down in Jacksonville on a regular basis....
posted by SweetIceT at 11:39 AM on January 20, 2003

None of this can beat the king of grave gift givers: Joe Di Maggio, who placed roses on Marilyn Monroe's grave every week until he moved from LA to Florida.
posted by PenDevil at 11:50 AM on January 20, 2003

I work for a flower company. We have a client who sends a dozen red roses to his former wife's gravesite every single Friday, and has for 12 years. Eighty dollars a week (our roses are really expensive). Joe did it for 20 - we'll see if this guy can beat his record.

Tangentially related - Lou Reed reworks The Raven.
posted by iconomy at 11:57 AM on January 20, 2003

Also tangentiallly related, Alan Parson's Project's first album (1975) was Tales of Mystery and Imagination, based of course on E. A. Poe stories. It's on my top ten of favorite first albums by a group.
posted by ashbury at 12:07 PM on January 20, 2003

-- and a half-empty bottle of cognac --

I always thought it was a half-full bottle of cognac.
posted by strangeleftydoublethink at 12:17 PM on January 20, 2003

Joe Di Maggio, who placed roses on Marilyn Monroe's grave every week until he moved from LA to Florida

Tangentially, Jack Benny did the opposite: he arranged to have a single red rose delivered every morning to Mary Livingston (his wife) after he died. In a way, this seems to be a lot more meaningful than the other way around, since the recipient actually knows what's going on.
posted by deadcowdan at 1:39 PM on January 20, 2003

I remember seeing George Burns on 60 Minutes, years ago, and they went with him to the mausoleum where Gracie was interred...apparently he went to visit her every week. unfortunately, I couldn't find anything about it via Google.
posted by epersonae at 4:02 PM on January 20, 2003

It's funny when shit like this gets posted on fark before it gets here. Bearing the standard of culture, my ass!
posted by rachelpapers at 8:58 PM on January 20, 2003

I think everyone who goes to Poe's gravesite on his birthday should dress up like that guy, wear the same clothes he is wearing, with cognac and roses carrying, cover their face with scarf, so that no one can tell which is the real one. Something to think about for next year perhaps?
posted by ZachsMind at 9:05 PM on January 20, 2003

...and as for Lou Reed's godless excursion
I prefer the original version
but it's all a matter of subjective diversion.
Mayhaps the Velvet Underground is poor.
posted by ZachsMind at 9:15 PM on January 20, 2003

I finally made it to the Poe Birthday celebration this year. Boy, those were some weird-ass puppets...
posted by JoanArkham at 4:58 AM on January 21, 2003