Edgar Allan Poe is famous for his dark tales of mystery and terror. After living a life that would be difficult to classify as normal, he passed away in 1849 under mysterious circumstances, strangely enough wearing clothes that weren’t even his, that has been attributed to anything from cholera, rabies, alcohol, or even suicide.
He died in Baltimore and was buried, yet in the 1930’s a tradition began that can be classified nearly as strange as Poe’s life. He’s called the “Poe Toaster.” The nickname was given to a mysterious man that dressed in black with a wide-brimmed hat, white scarf, roses, and a bottle of cognac. The unknown man shows up every year since the 1930’s on January 19th at Poe’s gravesite and pours himself a glass of cognac in which he toasts Poe’s memory.
After the cognac, he arranges the roses in a very specific order on the tombstone and leaves the half-empty bottle as well. Attempts have been made several times to catch of glimpse of the unknown man and discover his true identity, yet each has been unsuccessful. Fans of the Toaster became nervous as the years went on that eventually the man would have to stop coming, yet after leaving several notes it is now assumed that a younger “son” has emerged to take on the Toaster’s responsibility!