I decided that my contribution to the Weekly Photo Challenge would be “Inside The Rouge Box”.

When I was a little girl, having been raised by my grandparents, I would sometimes tip-toe into their bedroom on a quiet afternoon and open one of my grandmother’s dresser drawers to see what treasures lay within.  One old wooden box held her simple jewelry collection and little mementos from throughout her lifetime.  Inside this box, I would find a cameo necklace, an old watch worn by my grandfather, a little frame given to her by her children for Mother’s Day, her deceased brother’s napkin ring with this initials embossed in it, her great grandmother’s watch from Switzerland and various other little objects.  But the one thing I loved to bring out and touch and look at was her rouge box.   As you can see by the photo, it is old and has a scene of a young woman and man walking arm and arm together in the winter.  

I would gaze at it, turning it over and over, looking at the green back of it, all scratched from years of use.

Wanting desperately to see what was inside, I searched the edges for an opening clasp …. and yes, there it was on the bottom edge.  With my chubby little fingers, I pressed the lever and the rouge box popped open to reveal a compartment half filled with an old hardened chunk of rouge.

A second glance showed me that there was a mirror and picking up the mirror, I found there was a little rouge puff sitting in the bottom compartment.  Thinking I should try out this new found makeup, I picked up the puff and found the real treasure “inside” the rouge box:

For there I found a picture, long ago inserted by my grandmother, of one of my ancestors – her grandfather, a French Canadian man, who had served in the Canadian Military sometime in the late 1800’s.   He is depicted in his full dress uniform.

I have continued to carry this rouge box and its hidden treasure with me throughout the years and and when I hold it, I recall the stories my grandparents told me about life in Canada before they moved to the United States.

And there you have it – my “Inside” challenge photo.