Lectors - Yesteryear's Audie Award Winners!

I stumbled across a fascinating little article about the role that Lectors-people who would read books and newspapers aloud in factory settings-played in keeping workers entertained throughout the day. 

It reminded me of when I worked in my dad's machine shop through high-school and college. I plowed through a significant number of audiobooks while operating the CNC Machine or cleaning up the shop at the end of a long night shift.

Looks like narrators have always been out there doing the good work! 

Here are some great pics/blurbs from the article... 

"The readers, elected by their peers, were actually marvelous actors
and would not simply read the book but literally act out the scenes
​in a dramatic fashion upon a podium set up in the middle of the factory."

"The workers would each give 25 to 50 cents of their weekly salary
to elect a fellow workman to act as “the reader” in which he would
read aloud not just only newspapers, but even classical works of
​literature such as Tolstoy or Dickens."

"The lectors were forced out of the factories when what they were reading was
​deemed too radical. This caused widespread strikes and work slowdowns."

Check out the full article at Rare Historical Photos here