Solved: The mystery of the 'Poe toaster'

[snopes]

The legend was almost too good to be true.

For decades, a mysterious figure dressed in black, his features cloaked by a wide-brimmed hat and scarf, crept into a Baltimore churchyard to lay three roses and a bottle of cognac at the grave of Edgar Allan Poe.

Now, a man in his 90s who led the fight to preserve the historic site says the visitor was his creation.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servl...Entertainment/

[AliBaba]

My issue is with the author of the piece linked, not snopes for posting it. But this issue doesn't appear to be "solved" at all; Porpora makes a claim that he originated/made up Poe's graveyard visitor sometime in the 70's, but this would seem to be strongly contested.

According to the article, one guy seems to have found an article about the graveyard visitor dating 20 years prior to when Porpora claims to have started it.

Long way from solved, if you ask me. Not that anyone did.

Ali "Raven lunatic" Baba

[Simply Madeline]

I thought this thread was going to be about a toaster whose popping mimics the beating of a human heart.

Originally Posted by Simply Madeline

I thought this thread was going to be about a toaster whose popping mimics the beating of a human heart.

And I thought this was going to be similar to the Amityville Toaster.


-Fox

[Xia]

Originally Posted by Simply Madeline

I thought this thread was going to be about a toaster whose popping mimics the beating of a human heart.

"It is the beating of that hideous toaster!"
Doesn't quite have the same ring to it, does it?

I thought the thread was going to be about a toaster that mysteriously makes toast with images of Edgar Allen Poe on it.

[ganzfeld]

Originally Posted by AliBaba

My issue is with the author of the piece linked, not snopes for posting it. But this issue doesn't appear to be "solved" at all; Porpora makes a claim that he originated/made up Poe's graveyard visitor sometime in the 70's, but this would seem to be strongly contested.

Yes, it is contested. But he seems to know quite a bit about how the story spread and about the area so I don't think it's unlikely he's telling a fairly large chunk of the truth. The rest could possibly be explained by previous visits by others or by stories that turn out to be not quite the same when further examined. I think his "revelations" do make it look much less likely that there was a single visitor who visited for four decades.

[Ana Ng]

This is the only mystery I can think of where I don't want to know the real answer. I like it being a mystery.

[Namowal]

Originally Posted by Xia

"It is the beating of that hideous toaster!"
Doesn't quite have the same ring to it, does it?

I thought the thread was going to be about a toaster that mysteriously makes toast with images of Edgar Allen Poe on it.

How about the Tell-Tale Pop Tart?

[TrishDaDish]

I thought it would be like that site about the coffee pot that has voices, except it's about a toaster with Poe reciting his stories. Maybe even a weird, four slices toaster! Now, that's creepy!

[Aimee Evilpixie]

I was thinking it was a toaster that had a Poe trapped in it. I wonder how much the collector in Ocarina of Time would have paid for that...

[Chloe]

I thought it was going to be about this.

[snopes]

Undeterred by controversy, a mysterious visitor paid his annual tribute at the grave of Edgar Allan Poe, placing three red roses and a half-filled bottle of cognac before stealing away into the darkness.

http://apnews.myway.com/article/20080119/D8U918P00.html

[TrishDaDish]

Nearly 150 people had gathered outside the cemetery of Westminster Presbyterian Church, but the man known as the "Poe toaster" was, as usual, able to avoid being spotted by the crowd, said Jeff Jerome, curator of the Poe House and Museum.

In this age of surveillance cameras, much less "nearly 150 people" standing around waiting for this dude to show up, nobody noticed a guy walk up and leave flowers and a bottle at the site? What, did everyone turn to the left at the same time when the guy did this?

[Magdalene]

Originally Posted by Ana Ng

This is the only mystery I can think of where I don't want to know the real answer. I like it being a mystery.

I'm with you on this one. I always got a delicious little shiver on the back of my neck reading about the mysterious toaster. I don't wanna know.

Magdalene

[snopes]

From the tombstone of Edgar Allan Poe, one can reach the street by taking a narrow dirt path between two tall stone mausoleums and crouching for a few steps underneath a portion of Westminster Hall.

This was a favorite getaway route for the Poe Toaster, the mysterious man in black who for decades left three roses and an unfinished bottle of Martell cognac at Poe's grave on the birthday of the father of macabre fiction.

The tradition ended four years ago, just as mysteriously, when the visitor failed to appear.

http://news.yahoo.com/poe-visitor-co...195637515.html

[geminilee]

Originally Posted by Namowal

How about the Tell-Tale Pop Tart?

YOMANK!

I seriously can't stop giggling over this.

[ganzfeld]

When Jerome became a tour guide for Westminster Hall in 1976, he found a 1950 clipping that made a passing reference to roses and cognac left every year at Poe's grave.

Right. The newspaper clipping that doesn't exist. The toaster ate it.

Other members of the church backed up the story, and the caretaker who lived across the street claimed to take the cognac home and drink it every year.

According to Jerome, that is.

"What we ended up doing was making it easier for him to get in," Jerome said. "And I didn't feel the least bit guilty in deceiving the people."

OK, nothing suspicious about that.

[Dasla]

Originally Posted by TrishDaDish

In this age of surveillance cameras, much less "nearly 150 people" standing around waiting for this dude to show up, nobody noticed a guy walk up and leave flowers and a bottle at the site? What, did everyone turn to the left at the same time when the guy did this?

Poe toaster (out of sight); He's behind you!
Crowd: Where?
Poe toaster: Behind you!!
Crowd: Behind us?
Poe Toaster: Yes!!

So they all looked behind them.. and the Poe Toaster does what the Poe Toaster does.

There is no end to his cunning.


Add me to the people who thought this was about a toaster that popped up an image to Poe on the toast.