Kathy Isaac, age 12, of High Point, North Carolina, for her question:

What is pewter?

Pewter is a darkish grey alloy, a melted mixture of two or more metals. The main ingredient is tin and the best pewters contain as much as 80 per cent of this soft shiny metal. Other metals are alloyed with the tin to make different types of pewter. These may be various proportions of lead, copper or antimony. Some pewters contain bismuth. These and perhaps other metals make up from 20 to 25 per cent of the finished alloy, and the rest is tin. Pewter, like all alloys, is different from any of the metals used to make it. For example, it loses the shiny luster of tin and gains hardness.

In colonial days, pewter was a very common household metal. It was used to make dishes and plates, jugs and a vast assortment of containers. Some of these articles were created by craftsmen and now are displayed in museums. Though durable, pewter tends to tarnish in the air and dent when dropped. If you own a pewter object, handle it with reasonable care and polish it frequently.