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
River aux Vases (Mississippi River) River aux Vases (Mississippi River) River aux Vases is a creek that rises in Union Township in western Ste. Genevieve County, Missouri and flows into the Mississippi River about two miles north of St. Marys, Missouri. The stream's original name - La Rivière aux Vases - is French meaning "The muddy or swampy River" and referred to quicksand and soggy conditions around the creek, especially crossings. The earliest French colonial families had long-established family sugar camps (les sucreries) along the creek to process sugar. In 1797 the younger son of Pierre de Lassus, Commandant of New Bourbon received a grant