Taking Applications for Poe Toaster: The End of a 60 Year Tribute

Two things very close to my heart. Baltimore and Edgar Allen Poe's grave. Hey, it's not weird if you're an English major! (... or a history major.) As if The Baltimore Ravens' loss to Pittsburg last weekend didn't hurt enough, it seems the Poe Toaster has given up his annual appearance at Poe's grave at Westminster Hall Cemetary for good.

I spent an evening at Poe's grave back in 2008 and the experience sent chills up my spine. (again... English major.) The cemetary might have had something to do with that, too.

Poe, originally buried in 1849 in an unmarked grave, caught the attention of the media and his mother-in-law Maria Clemm in 1860 when reports circulated that his resting place was overgrown with weeds. Judge Neilson Poe ordered the creation of a marble headstone and promised a worried and distraught Maria Clemm that the grave would be better maintained. The headstone fell off of a train and crumbled to pieces. Neilson Poe, without the funds to build another stone, did not order a second one.

In 1895, Miss Sara Sigourney Rice launched a movement that would provide a monument for the dead poet. Half the cost of the new stone was raised by 1871 through donations by students and friends while the remaining funds were gifted by George W. Childs of Philadelphia. George A. Frederick, the architect of Baltimore's City Hall designed the monument for Poe and was dedicated on November 17th, 1875. According to The Edgar Allen Poe society's website, "Among those in attendance were John H. B. Latrobe (one of the judges who awarded Poe the Baltimore Saturday Visiter prize in 1833), Judge Neilson Poe (Edgar’s cousin) and Walt Whitman (the great American poet, who actually met Poe once). Letters from H. W. Longfellow, John G. Whittier, William C. Bryant and Alfred Tennyson were read. The remains of Virginia Poe, buried in 1847 in New York, were brought to Baltimore and added to those of Poe and Maria Clemm in 1885. Thus the three who had struggled together as a family for so many years were reunited for eternity".

Beginning in 1949 (The Baltimore Evening Sun reports it first in this year), in the darkness of the night of Poe's birth, a cloaked figure has visited the monument every year, always leaving three roses and a bottle of cogniac. You can visit the Poe house in Baltimore to see some of the tributes left behind.

Famous Poe Toaster Photo

Last year, the Poe Toaster, as this mysterious stranger has been dubbed, did not show up on the anniversary of Poe's birth. Over a dozen spectators stood on the street across from the cemetary in the rain and freezing temperatures to wait all night. They never saw the Poe Toaster enter the cemetary, nor was anything left at the grave. Four imposters came and went - one out of a limo, two women and one older man - all in plain sight. This year it seems, the original Poe Toaster was absent again, leaving many to assume that he might have passed away.

Jeff Jerome, curator of the Poe House told the Associated Press, "I think we can safely say it's not car trouble, and he's not sick. This doesn't look good."

Upon realizing that the Poe Toaster was not coming, spectators crossed into the cemetary and paid their own tribute to Baltimore's beloved poet. Jerome stated that he will return in 2012 to wait for the Poe Toaster but if the cloaked stranger does not appaer, that will be the end of the annual vigils at Westminster Hall.

Hark the Raven, nevermore.