'Poe Toaster' Tradition Is Really Done

Mysterious guest does not appear at grave for third consecutive year
By Evann Gastaldo,  Newser Staff
Posted Jan 19, 2012 12:56 PM CST
'Poe Toaster' Tradition Is Really Done
Fans and the Poe House and Museum Curator look at items left in front of Edgar Allan Poe's gravestone by people who pretended to be the mysterious "Poe Toaster" in Baltimore, Jan. 19, 2012.   (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)

For the third year running, the mysterious "Poe Toaster" failed to show up at Edgar Allan Poe's Baltimore grave on the anniversary of his birthday today, and the Poe House and Museum curator says he's declaring the tradition "over." Fans waited for hours past the time when the so-called Toaster usually arrives, bearing roses and cognac, but only three impersonators were seen. "It's over with," the curator tells the AP. "I've been part of a ritual that people around the world read about. I'll miss it." (More Edgar Allan Poe stories.)

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