Lector (cigar manufacture)

In cigar manufacture, a lector or reader is an employee hired by fellow workers to entertain them by reading books or newspapers aloud.^[1][2]

The practice began in Cuba,^[3][4] in 1865, in part to relieve worker boredom. The custom also spread to areas with Cuban influence, such as Ybor City, Tampa.^[2]

In practice, lectors often read left-wing publications, and often took on extra-official roles and formerly acted as "spurs to dissent",^[1] becoming a part of union advocacy. In the United States, the lector tradition ended in the aftermath of the Ybor City cigar makers' strike of 1931.^[2] The lector tradition still continues in Cuba, however, and as of 2017^[update], UNESCO was considering designating the profession a form of "intangible cultural heritage".^[1]