For the third year in a row, the Poe toaster didn't show up to Edgar Allen Poe's grave and leave his usual gift of three red roses and a half-drunk bottle of cognac. The tradition had been going on since 1949, but he's been a no-show since 2009. Today Jeff Jerome, who runs the Poe House, announced the tradition officially dead. This simple mystery had become one of the great local legends...something every child who grew up around Baltimore was told. I can remember wanting to wait outside the graveyard on January 19th, only to come to the realization that a city street corner was the last place my parents wanted their 10-year-old son stand through the night on. Why January 19th? It was simply Edgar Allen Poe's birthday (This year would be his 203rd). It looks like the tradition, like Poe himself, is to be seen nevermore.
Baltimore Sun article about the end of the Poe Toaster.
Wikipedia article for more information on the Poe Toaster.
