Poe Toaster Haunted Author's Grave

Mystery Man Left Three Red Roses, a Bottle of Cognac and Notes

Jan 28, 2010
Jill Stefko

Poe Toaster Left Three Red Roses on Grave - lebewesen

Edgar Allen Poe was a master writer of macabre mystery fiction. It's fitting that the Poe Toaster would leave the gifts by Poe's grave with different notes each year.

Beginning in 1949, a man dressed in black, wearing a black fedora and scarf and carrying a walking stick, began to leave a bottle of cognac and three red roses on Poe’s gravesite on the author’s birthday, January 19, with a note to Poe that the man didn’t forget him. Many people think there might be more than one toaster because some reported he had light hair; others, dark. There was no visit in 2010.

Poe House and Museum Curator Alleged Toaster

Rumors were that Jeff Jerome was the mysterious visitor. In 1983, he invited seventy people to meet at the graveyard at midnight on January 19. They celebrated Poe’s birthday with a glass of amontillado, a Spanish sherry featured in one of Poe’s horror stories and reading his works.

At about 12:30 a.m., the party-goers saw a dressed in a black frock coat man run through the cemetery. He was fair-haired, carried a cane and quickly departed by the cemetery’s east wall. They found the roses, cognac and note on Poe's grave.

Sam Porpora Claims to be Poe Toaster

In 2007, the ninety-two year old retired advertising executive and historian of the Westminster Presbyterian Church, built in 1852, said the mysterious visitor was his idea. He and his tour guides did it as a promotional gimmick to raise funds to maintain the cemetery and he never thought reports of the mysterious visitor would become global news.

In the late 1960s, there were less than sixty members. Porpora, in his sixties, was one of the youngest. The overgrown cemetery was a favorite hangout for intoxicated people. He told a reporter that a tribute of three roses, one for Poe, one for his wife and one for his mother-in-law and a bottle of cognac was at Poe’s grave on January 19, his birthday. The author loved cognac although he couldn't afford to drink it unless someone treated him. The mysterious romantic image of the Poe toaster caught the attention of Poe fans and a tradition was born.

Porpora Claim of Being Poe Toaster Questioned

In the 1970s, Jerome began inviting people to a vigil for the mysterious stranger each year. The media began chronicling the Poe Toaster’s arrivals and departures. In 1990, Life magazine published a picture of the mysterious man. In 1993, the toaster left a note saying that the torch would be passed. A 1998 note proclaimed the mystery man had died. Witnesses had reported that at least two different toasters appeared in various years.

Jeffrey A. Savoye, secretary-treasurer of the E.A. Poe Society of Baltimore, said it didn’t matter if the story was true, the gifts at Poe’s grave was a good tradition. Society members recalled that deceased members of the old congregation talked about the Poe Toaster before Porpora said he made it up. Porpora's account wasn’t consistent. He said he created the stranger in an interview with a reporter in 1967, but the story he referred to appeared in 1976. During the same interview, Porpora said one of his tour guides dressed up, snuck into the cemetery and put the tribute on the grave. Porpora also said that someone else had maintained the tradition.

Mysterious Poe Toaster No Shows

In 2010, Savoye said the Poe Toaster who, each year since 1949, left roses and cognac on Edgar Allen Poe's grave was absent for first time in sixty-one years. About fifty people waited on Tuesday night 2010 for the toaster to arrive. Many had traveled across the United States for the 201st anniversary of Poe's birthday. According to a note, the Poe Toaster allegedly died in 1998 and left the tribute up to his two sons.

Who Was the Poe Toaster?

The toaster’s absence this year deepened the enigma about his identity. The Poe society had disputed Porpora’s claim. The identity of the man has been an intriguing mystery for years. Many people, including Jerome, believe there may be more than one person leaving the gifts. Jerome saw a white-haired man while others reported a man with black hair.

Perhaps the one might be the son of the man who started the tradition. Jerome has said if he had his way, the man’s identity will never be known. He has received numerous telephone calls from people requesting that no attempt would be made to approach the man. Will the toaster return in 2011?