Pewter known as "trifling metal" or "trifle", was used for holloware and is made up of fine metal with approximately 4% lead. The last type of pewter, known as "lay" or "ley" metal, was used for items that were not in contact with food or drink. It consisted of tin with 15% lead. These three alloys were used with little variation until the 20th century. Older pewters with higher lead content are heavier, tarnish faster, and oxidation gives them a darker silver-gray color. Pewters containing lead are no longer used in items that will come in contact with the human body
Homemaker tableware Homemaker tableware "Homemaker" tableware was a range of mass-produced tableware that was very popular in the United Kingdom in the 1950s and 60s. The pattern was designed by Enid Seeney (2 June 1931 - 8 April 2011), manufactured by Ridgway Potteries of Stoke-on-Trent between 1957 and 1970, (1968 according to the Victoria & Albert Museum), and initially sold exclusively through Woolworth's stores. The first prototype was a single plate displayed on the Ridgway stand at the 1956 Blackpool trade fair where it attracted little interest. A prototype coffee set was then produced which was noticed by a buyer from Woolworths