The Original

Summary

Aaron Mahnke’s Cabinet of Curiosities

Episode: The Original
Date: January 6, 2026
Host: Aaron Mahnke
Podcast by: iHeartPodcasts and Grim & Mild

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Overview

In this “bite-sized” episode, host Aaron Mahnke presents two enigmatic stories that explore the origins—and enduring allure—of mysterious traditions and legendary monsters. The first tale investigates the enigmatic “Poe Toaster,” an anonymous figure who honored Edgar Allan Poe with a strange, annual graveside ritual. The second delves into the life of Dom Augustine Calmet, a Benedictine monk whose scholarly work forever shaped the image of the vampire in Western culture. Together, these stories highlight how simple actions and scholarly curiosity can spark legacies that outlast even the most celebrated individuals.

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Segment 1: The Mystery of the Poe Toaster

Timestamps: 00:31–05:56

Key Points & Insights

• Setup of Everyday Mystery:
  Mahnke opens the episode with the quirky, unresolved question of half-peeled bananas regularly appearing on a street corner in Beeston, England, using it as a segue to more momentous mysteries.

• Introduction to Edgar Allan Poe’s Death:
  Mahnke recounts the strange death of Poe in 1849 and his subsequent burial in Baltimore.

• Birth of the Poe Toaster Legend:
  In 1949, a mysterious, black-clad figure begins a yearly ritual on Poe’s birthday:

  • Lays three roses on Poe’s grave
  • Pours and drinks a glass of cognac
  • Leaves the remainder of the bottle beside the flowers
  • Silently vanishes into the night

• Public Fascination & Media Attention:

  • Crowds gather to witness the event as the “Poe Toaster” becomes legendary.
  • The tradition is observed for decades.

• Passing the Torch:

  • In 1993, a note was left: “the torch will be passed.”
  • In 1999, it’s revealed the original toaster had died, but a successor continued the ritual.

• End and Return of the Tradition:

  • In 2010, the ritual abruptly ends, disappointing onlookers.
  • By 2015, the Maryland Historical Society seeks a new Poe Toaster.
  • In January following, a new figure resumes the tradition, adding a violin performance of “Danse Macabre,” delighting the crowd.

• Lasting Impact:
  The episode underscores the communal thrill and allure of unsolved mysteries, and how simple gestures can unite people across generations in shared curiosity.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On the mysterious ritual:
  “As the tradition continued, small crowds began to gather to catch sight of the mysterious toaster. The man never gave up his identity, and though there has been much speculation, there has never been an explanation for the yearly pilgrimage.” — Aaron Mahnke [03:22]

• On the tradition’s legacy:
  “And thus the tradition continues onward, bolstered by the passion of its fans who are bound together by the shared love of a good old fashioned mystery.” — Aaron Mahnke [05:47]

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Segment 2: The Monk Who Shaped the Vampire

Timestamps: 07:03–12:18

Key Points & Insights

• A Philosopher’s Visit That Wasn’t the Story:
  Mahnke sets the scene of Voltaire visiting the Senones Abbey in 1754, but swiftly pivots to focus on Dom Augustine Calmet, the priest who welcomed him.

• A Scholar’s Beginnings:
  Born in 1672, son of a blacksmith, Calmet pursued the Benedictine order and became a respected theologian and historian.

• Prolific Writer:
  Authored major religious works, including “A Literal Commentary on All the Books of the Old and New Testaments.”

• The Vampire Epidemic in Europe:
  Throughout the 1730s, stories of vampires begin to proliferate across Eastern Europe.

  • Rooted in peasant folklore, these tales combine resurrection, anti-Christian heresy, and superstition.

• Calmet’s Inquiry:
  Intrigued and skeptical, Calmet undertakes a rigorous, scholarly investigation of vampire reports, compiling stories from army doctors and regional folklore.

• Pivotal Publication and Influence:
  In 1746, Calmet publishes “Dissertations on the Apparitions of Angels, Demons and Spirits, and on the Revenants and Vampires of Hungary, Bohemia, Moravia and Silesia.”

  • Achieves best-seller status
  • Widely derided by peers (even Voltaire) for dealing in superstition
  • Nevertheless, it standardizes the image of the vampire for the first time in the public imagination

• Legacy and Forgotten Origins:
  Calmet’s work, though controversial in its time, lays a critical foundation for subsequent depictions of vampires—eventually inspiring the likes of Bram Stoker’s “Dracula.”

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On the superstitious climate:
  “Europe, you see, was in the middle of a strange period. An epidemic of weird, superstitious stories had started popping up throughout the countryside... And the stories were about the vampires.” — Aaron Mahnke [08:32]

• On Calmet’s impact:
  “His genuine curiosity was a much stronger foundation for what this creature would become. Before his writing, vampire stories varied greatly from region to region, but Calmet’s efforts ensured that the monster would become a specific thing in the minds of the public.” — Aaron Mahnke [10:42]

• Reframing credit for the genre:
  “While Bram Stoker gets all the credit for the modern vampire, none of what he did would have been possible at all without the efforts of a Benedictine monk who lived a century earlier.” — Aaron Mahnke [11:31]

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Flow & Tone

Aaron Mahnke’s signature storytelling voice is restrained but curious, blending historical rigor with an appreciation for the darkly peculiar. He frames both stories within a broader reflection on how the smallest actions—be they secret rituals or scholarly investigations—can seed new traditions and reshape cultural memory for generations yet to come.

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Key Segments & Timestamps

| Segment | Topic | Timestamp | |------------------------------|---------------------------------------------|-------------| | 1. Poe Toaster Mystery | Rituals at Edgar Allan Poe’s grave | 00:31–05:56 | | 2. Vampire Origins | Dom Calmet and the vampire tradition | 07:03–12:18 |

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Final Thoughts

Through the intertwined tales of the Poe Toaster and Dom Augustine Calmet, Mahnke spotlights the curious power of the unknown. Whether by leaving a single rose or a well-written treatise, both the anonymous and the nearly forgotten can forever shape culture. As always, listeners are left with an encouragement to “stay curious”—and to look for the extraordinary just beneath the surface of everyday life.

Transcript

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It feels good to save big. It feels good to Geico. Welcome to Erin Menke's Cabinet of Curiosities, a production of iHeartRadio and Grim and Mild. Our world is full of the unexplainable, and if history is an open book, all of these amazing tales are right there on display, just waiting for us to explore. Welcome to the Cabinet of Curiosities. For the past two years, on the second Wednesday of every month, a plate of 15 to 20 half peeled bananas has appeared on the corner of Abbey Road and Windsor Avenue in Beeston, a small town in the midlands of England. Residents have been baffled as to the reason they keep appearing, and to many, the mystery is less important than the mess the bananas leave in the street. One such resident, Claire Short, decided to try to reason with the mysterious gifter in a note left in the Banana's usual location, reading, please respectfully, no more bananas. The note had no effect. The next month, the bananas were there again, and it brings to mind another such mystery concerning the final resting place of one of America's most beloved authors. On October 3rd of 1849, a man in crisis appeared outside of Gunner's Hall, a busy tavern in Baltimore, Maryland. It was a dreary day and the place was packed to the gills. At first glance, the patrons took the man as another drunkard. Due to his rumpled appearance and his dazed demeanor, he was clearly unwell and was brought to the hospital, where he died four days later. He was buried in an unmarked grave at Westminster Presbyterian Church. After a modest funeral in 1875, his grave was moved and the citizens of Baltimore gathered funds for a headstone. After all, he was one of Baltimore's favorite sons, one Edgar Allan Poe. 100 years later, in 1949, a shadowy figure was noticed entering the graveyard. He was dressed in black with a white scarf, his visage hidden by a wide, brimmed black hat. It was late on 19 January, which happened to be Poe's birthday, the figure was seen to kneel and place three roses on the grave, after which he poured himself a glass of cognac to toast the dead author. Once he had drained it, he left the open bottle beside the flowers and disappeared into the night. When a Baltimore sun reporter came inquiring, the Reverend Bruce McDonald suggested that the visits had been occurring for years. The reporter noted, the anonymous citizen who creeps in annually to place an empty bottle of excellent label against the tomb of Poe on the anniversary of his death is a jokester. Mr. McDonald figures. And so the Poe toaster made his way into the public consciousness. He returned each year, and each year performed the same three roses on the grave. A cognac toast, the remainder of the bottle left for Poe. As the tradition continued, small crowds began to gather to catch sight of the mysterious toaster. The man never gave up his identity, and though there has been much speculation, there has never been an explanation for the yearly pilgrimage. But he remained faithful to Edgar for decades. And then, in 1993, he left a note, perhaps as much for onlookers as for the author. It read, the torch will be passed. A few short Years later, in 1999, another note was left to confirm this. The original toaster had died the previous year, but his successor continued the tradition for many years in his stead, with modest crowds standing by to bear witness. And then, as inexplicably as it began, it ended. Onlookers in 2010 found themselves quite disappointed when, for the first time in over 60 years, the mysterious man failed to appear. When he didn't show up the following year, it became clear that the toaster would visit the graveside nevermore. Although there has been a lot of speculation around the identity of the original toaster, it remains uncertain to this day who really was visiting Poe's grave. And while there were other visitors who left tokens on the grave as well, these were not seen as serious successors. In 2015, the Maryland Historical Society declared that it was searching for a new toaster. The following January, a large crowd once again gathered outside the Westminster graveyard for a ceremony with food and cider provided. The audience was treated to a reading of Poe's the Cask of Amontillado. And then, for the first time in half a decade, it happened. Poe's toaster entered the burial ground. He placed the three roses on the grave and poured himself a glass of cognac. And when he'd finished the tipple, he placed the bottle beside the flowers. And then, to the delight of everyone, there, pulled out a violin and played Camille Sasson's Danse Macabre. And then he took his leave. Identity still a secret. And thus the tradition continues onward, bolstered by the passion of its fans who are bound together by the shared love of a good old fashioned mystery.

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The abbey was a peaceful place nestled in the remote French countryside many miles from the east of Paris. There was a small village nearby, but the monks largely kept to themselves. But on this day they had a visitor. He was one of the most famous philosophers of the Enlightenment come to stay in their village. He was eager to peruse the extensive library kept within their walls. The priest came out to greet him and welcome him. The visitor's name was Voltaire, but this story isn't about him. It's about the priest who welcomed him to senone Abbey in 1754. His name was Dom Augustine Calmette, and for someone who lived a life as a monk, he left an indelible mark on history. He was born in 1672, the son of a blacksmith. Without much in the way of prospects for life, he began studying to become a Benedictine monk at the age of 15. A student of rhetoric, philosophy, and theology, he was an intelligent and capable learner. Even as a priest, he was frequently engaged in scholarly work. Dom Calmette's first published work was printed in 1707, and it was called A Literal Commentary on All the Books of the Old and New Testaments. An extremely popular work among Catholic thinkers, it would be printed and reprinted several times over the following decades, during which Calmette also worked on several other works of Christian and popular histories. He wrote one called A Dissertation on the Highways of Lorraine and another called History of the Famous Men of Lorraine, as well as a tome of universal history published beginning in 1735. As varied and specific as these topics are, they would not be the topic that would make him famous. That would be a little niche topic that he turned his attention to. In the 1730s, Europe, you see, was in the middle of a strange period. An epidemic of weird, superstitious stories had started popping up throughout the countryside. They were mostly focused on Eastern Europe, but some occurred in various other countries, as well as far south as the coast of Italy. And the stories were about the vampires. No two vampire stories were identical, but all included elements of resurrection after death. And we know that these were caused by a collision between the folk beliefs of the people and Christianity as a religion. Peasants who were used to burning their dead had to adopt a religion that said that the body was necessary for resurrection during the end times. It's a paradox that helped create a monster. Meanwhile, Dom Calmette knew none of this. What he knew was that the people across Europe claimed to have encountered men who came back from the dead, a belief that was as heretical as it was impossible. With the eye of both a historian and a Christian theologian, he set out to write a study of these various accounts and see what he could find. The majority of vampire accounts at the time were written by Hungarian army doctors sent to study the vampire panics by Empress Maria Theresa. Calmette's studies of vampires gathered these all together, as well as several other stories from across the continent, to create a study of what he saw as a modern phenomenon. His resulting study was published in 1746 as Dissertations on the Apparitions of Angels, Demons and Spirits, and on the Revenants and Vampires of Hungary, Bohemia, Moravia and Silesia. And I'm sure that you won't be surprised to hear that it was a best seller. It seems that everyone had an opinion on the monk who wrote about the occult. But much of the popular opinion was not a positive one. Calmette's peers thought that he had succumbed to superstition, writing about the ravings of peasants far afield. Even Voltaire, who had greatly admired Calmette's theological writings, publicly decried this work. But of course, the book was also not without its many admirers, and the subsequent attention was enough for Calmette to expand it in 1748. And the result of his genuine curiosity was a much stronger foundation for what this creature would become before his writing vampire stories varied greatly from region to region, but Calmette's efforts ensured that the monster would become a specific thing in the minds of the public. It's a curious story that few people today remember. While Bram Stoker gets all the credit for the modern vampire, none of what he did would have been possible at all without the efforts of a Benedictine monk or who lived a century earlier. Augustine Calmette would never know it, but through his religious writings, he left a faint fingerprint on an entire genre of popular fiction, which in a way has helped him live on long after his death. I hope you've enjoyed today's guided tour of the Cabinet of Curiosities. Subscribe for free on Apple Podcasts or learn more about the show by visiting curiosityspodcast.com the show was created by me, Aaron Manke, in partnership with How Stuff Works. I make another award winning show called Lore, which is a podcast, book series and television show and you can learn all about it [e-mail] and until next time, stay curious.

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