Every year at the Annual Meeting of the Charter Trustees of the town of High Wycombe, in Buckinghamshire, England, a new mayor is elected. The mayor and his officers are then subjected to a strange initiation ritual.
A large brass scale is brought in and the mayor in traditional garb is weighed in full view of the public and his or her weight recorded. One year later, when he leaves office to make way for the new mayor, the mayor is weighed again. If he was found to have gained weight, it was presumed that he got fat at the taxpayers' expense and would be met with loud jeering and booing. If his weight was found to be less than the previous year, the crowd cheered as a sign of their appreciation and gratitude for hard work done for the community.
High Wycombe Mayor Weighing 2015. Photo: Trevor Laight/Flickr
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