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Pewter pab boat, used to feed infants. Inscribed 'Hannah Lewis Born Janu.y 21th 1908'.

Pap Boats were small open, handle-less vessels with one end fashioned into an extended lip for placing in the mouth. They held an average of 1-2oz and were usually about 4 ½” by 2 ½” in size, they were made of silver, pewter, wood, bone, pottery, porcelain and more rarely glass. Silver examples dating from the 17th century were rather plain but they became progressively more elaborate throughout the 1700’s and 1800’s, often with gilt interiors. Pap was a mixture of breadcrumbs, flour, rice or barley mixed with fluids such as broth, milk (if the infant was lucky), water, wine and even beer, to aid the digestion of pap it was often pre-chewed by the nurse or nanny. Pap was a popular form of infant nutrition for almost 300 years and used in many well to do homes. However for unwanted or illegitimate infants in foundling homes it was often the only form of sustenance as a result the mortality rate was appallingly high. Despite a growing number of experts advising against the use of pap it never-the-less persisted as a major source of infant nutrition in many nurseries until the late 1800’s, largely due to the ignorance of nannies and nurses who took great delight in disregarding the advice of physicians, who they believed were usurping their position in the household. ‘Nanny knows best’.