Question 1424

This practice may have begun as early as the 1930s, according to witnesses, and continued annually until 2009. Each year, at dawn on January 19, an all-black-clad person, face covered by a scarf or hood would enter the burial ground in Baltimore. At the site of X's original grave, which is marked with a commemorative stone, he would raise a cognac toast and place three red roses on the grave marker, along with the unfinished bottle of cognac.

On several occasions, this person left a note often expressing devotion. There have been instances of cryptic messages too. In 1999, a note announced that the original person had died the previous year and had passed the tradition to his son. Subsequent eyewitnesses noted that after 1998, it appeared to be a younger individual. The 2001 note referred to the Super Bowl of that year between the Baltimore Ravens and the New York Giants. Never before had the note referred to current events.

2009 marked the bicentenary of X's birth; despite this milestone, the crowd was smaller than in past years, and no note was left. In 2010 the person failed to appear. A witness who was present every year from 1976 on had no explanation, but did speculate that if the person intended to end the tradition, the 2009 bicentennial would mark a logical ending point.


What practice is this? (I am looking for a specific 2 word term)

Answer: The Poe Toaster, a person who, for over seven decades, paid an annual tribute to American author Edgar Allan Poe by visiting the stone marking his original grave in Baltimore, Maryland in the early hours of January 19, Poe's birthday.