Working in a cigar factory in Havana in the 1860s was a boring and tedious job. To keep themselves entertained, the workers came up with a clever solution. They banded together and hired a lector, someone to read to them as they worked.
A colorized photo of a tobacco factory lector from 1910. (Tobacco factory Lectors 1910-Colorized)
As shown in this colorized photograph, the tobacco factory lectors were educated, literate individuals who were skilled orators. They spent their days amid the tobacco workers, keeping them entertained with passages from books and newspapers. Let’s dive more deeply into this unique and now-obsolete profession.
In Need of Mental Stimulation
A lector reads a newspaper to workers in a cigar factory. 1900s.
In the cigar factories of Cuba, workers spent long days rolling leaves into cigars. Although they could talk among themselves, the work was mind-numbingly boring. The workers yearned for mental stimulation to keep them entertained. In addition, the vast majority of the factory workers in the mid-1800s were illiterate and uneducated. They thirsted for knowledge as much as entertainment. They hit on a way to keep the workers entertained and educated while on the job.
What Is a Lector?
Lector in a Tampa cigar factory circa 1930.-Colorized-Enhanced
A lector is basically a lecturer. But in the cigar factories of Cuba, a lector was so much more. The lector stood on a raised podium on the factory floor and read to the workers. Novels, poetry, newspapers, scientific reports, and even political propaganda was shared. The workers could stay current on work happenings, learn about the newest scientific discoveries, be educated about world history, and be entertained by the works of authors like Charles Dickens, Leo Tolstoy, Miguel de Cervantes, and Alexandre Dumas.
The Qualities of a Good Lector
Productivity increased when the workers were entertained. (thecigarsmokingman.com)
Factory workers formed committees and held auditions to hire the best lectors in the region. Both men and women could serve as lectors, provided they met the qualifications. They had to be excellent readers and knowledgeable about a wide variety of topics. They had to have loud, clear voices and perfect pronunciation. A good lector could bring the characters to life when reading a novel or short story. The lector needed to be a dramatic performer, not just a reader. He or she also needed to be able to read the room and select novels, short stories, and more that had broad appeal. The workers showed their appreciation for the lector and his or her selected reading by tapping their knives on their wooden cutting boards in lieu of clapping. If the lector was a dud, he or she would be fired by the workers’ committee and a new one would be hired.
Lectors as a Socialist Tool
Some lectors purposely selected works with underlying social commentary. (oliver-twistcharles-dickens.fandom.com)
Since the lectors were able to choose their own material to read to the workers, many of them used it as an opportunity to educate the employees about politics and class structure. A wise lector began the indoctrination process slowly. He or she might read a novel this a theme of social injustice, like Les Miserables or Oliver Twist. From there, they would progress to more tales of class inequalities. The tobacco workers would begin to question their own experience in the working class as compared to the factory owners. If the owners caught wind of the socialist reading material, the lector was forced out of the factory. This caused trouble, however, because the lector was employed by the workers, not the factory owner. In some cases, the workers responded to the removal of a lector by going on strike.
The Decline of the Lectors
The original black and white version of the 1910 photograph. (Tobacco factory Lectors, 1910)
In the 1930s, mechanical cigar rollers were introduced to replace hand cigar rollers. In addition, more and more people in the United States began smoking the cheaper cigarettes instead of the more expensive cigars. The need for factory entertainment drastically declined. The few remaining hand cigar rollers no longer needed someone to read to them. They had radios to keep them entertained.
