Here in Boston, in 1631, through an order of the Court of Assistants, held at Boston, every plantation within the limits of the Patent was required to have weights and measures compared and sealed with those in possession of the governor. In 1635, James Pen, Sheriff, was appointed to test and seal weights and measures. Many notable Bostonians with names such as Franklin, Fanuiel and Adams were prominent in local weights & measures.

The Roman adage, "Caveat Emptor", which has served through the ages as the warning of " Let the Buyer Beware" on matters of quantity, has lost much of its significance in this country, at least in those jurisdictions which have good programs of Weights and Measures enforcement. We feel the City of Boston possesses one of the best local Weights & Measures jurisdictions in the country. In Boston we are fortunate to have received the great support needed to make our program one of the best. The very fact that so few people today know and understand that age old maxim, "Caveat Emptor" is in part tribute to the progress that weights & measures enforcement has had overall in providing the circumstances favorable to an atmosphere of consumer confidence in the merchant. And, for today's merchandising climate, that confidence is most essential to the high speed, mass handling of huge volume, at both retail and wholesale levels.