...I think we all know everyone really just wants to polish off half a bottle of cognac.

The 166th anniversary of Edgar Allan Poe's death was this past week, which has led the Maryland Historical Society to restart a tradition that died out six years ago.

The tradition?

Starting in the 1940s, every year late at night on January 19th (Poe's birthday), a man dressed all in black, with a hat and a rakish white scarf, would visit Poe's grave at Baltimore's Westminster Hall cemetery. While there, the visitor would open a bottle of cognac, toast the deceased writer, consume half the bottle, and leave the rest at the grave site, along with three roses (one for Poe, as well as Poe's wife and aunt, who are buried alongside).

This continued up until 2009, when the toasting suddenly stopped. By 2011, the Edgar Allan Poe House and Museum declared the tradition dead.

But Baltimore only has copious amounts of drug related crime and murder going for it these days, so they're looking for some good publicity. That means striking up the Poe toast once again.

From now until October 23rd, the Historical Society is accepting submissions from individuals on how they would perform a toast for Poe on his birthday. Ten-to-twelve will be selected on Halloween, and those chosen will be given three minutes to perform the toast live on November 7th in front of judges and an audience. The winner will then toast Poe on his birthday in January.

Jeff Jerome, curator at the Poe House, is optimistic, telling Yahoo, "I see this as a great opportunity to celebrate Edgar Allan Poe [...] This is a good, fun and educational way to bring attention to Edgar Allan Poe and, of course, Baltimore."

Oh, don't worry. Drugs and murder are educating America about--and bringing plenty of attention to--the city.



Side note: The Historical Society notes that admission to the November 7th event is free--but you can buy a $20 all-you-can-drink wristband for alcohol. Now that sounds like the Baltimore we all know and love!

In the same vein, who finished off the last half of that left behind bottle of cognac? Who's the real winner here? We need names.