# What's it called: paintings you stand behind and stick your face in **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 7, 2011, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-it-called-paintings-you-stand-behind-and-stick-your-face-in/584667 "2011-06-07T21:28:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Swallowed_My_Cellphone)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2011, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-it-called-paintings-you-stand-behind-and-stick-your-face-in/584667/1 "2011-06-07T21:28:59Z")
Sorry, don’t know how else to describe them. They are usually painted on plywood, sometimes they’re more sculptural. They usually have cartoony people painted on the, but where the faces are supposed to be is a hole and you’r supposed to stand behind it and put your face their so you’re the character. Here [is an example.](http://www.ratatat.com/ratatat/unblog/200608-garden.jpg) Do these things have a name? ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2011, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-it-called-paintings-you-stand-behind-and-stick-your-face-in/584667/2 "2011-06-07T21:33:17Z")
I’ve seen them called “your face here” cutouts, or just cardboard cutouts. ---
**Author:** ![dolphinboy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dolphinboy/32/330_2.png) [@dolphinboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dolphinboy)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2011, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-it-called-paintings-you-stand-behind-and-stick-your-face-in/584667/3 "2011-06-07T21:38:54Z")
According to this [http://www.ecievents.net/Photography/Entertainment\_Connection\_Photo\_Novelties.htm](http://www.ecievents.net/Photography/Entertainment_Connection_Photo_Novelties.htm) they are called “Carnival Funny Photos”. Scroll down towards the bottom of the page… ---
**Author:** ![freakstasy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c57346/32.png) [@freakstasy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/freakstasy)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2011, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-it-called-paintings-you-stand-behind-and-stick-your-face-in/584667/4 "2011-06-07T21:42:44Z")
Comic foregrounds ---
**Author:** ![onion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/46a35a/32.png) [@onion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/onion)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2011, 6:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-it-called-paintings-you-stand-behind-and-stick-your-face-in/584667/5 "2011-06-08T06:25:57Z")
Standees. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2011, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-it-called-paintings-you-stand-behind-and-stick-your-face-in/584667/6 "2011-06-08T17:27:08Z")
> [@onion](#): > > Standees. AFAICT, “standee” in the sense of “life-size standalone photo portrait” generally refers to an image of some celebrity **with** that celebrity’s own face attached. Not to a life-size portrait setting with a “your face here” hole cut in it, which seems to be what the OP is referring to. From [dictionary.com](http://www.thefreedictionary.com/standee): > [@](#): > > 1. standee - a lifesize cardboard cutout (usually of a celebrity); “he had his picture taken with a standee of the president” What the OP’s talking about would have to be called a [“paste your face (or place your face) standee”](http://www.shindigz.com/catalog.cfm?cat=51291) (although that seems to refer more to a custom-made standee incorporating a photo of the individual’s face rather than a cutout with a face-shaped hole in it). Or better, a [“faceless standee”](http://www.stockcutouts.com/). ---
**Author:** ![Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Swallowed_My_Cellphone)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2011, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-it-called-paintings-you-stand-behind-and-stick-your-face-in/584667/7 "2011-06-10T17:45:04Z")
Sorry, to have abandoned the thread - got unexpectedly busy. > [@Kimstu](#): > > I’ve seen them called “your face here” cutouts, or just cardboard cutouts. Thanks! “Cutout” is probably it because it would be appropriate for a canvas backdrop as well as wood or cardboard versions. “Carnival Funny Photo” sounds like something a company would make up because they don’t know what they’re called either. And it makes me think more of those funny photos where you dress up as a cowboy or gangster and get photographed in a fake “vintage B&W setting.” ---
**Author:** ![Kevbo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e47774/32.png) [@Kevbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kevbo)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2011, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-it-called-paintings-you-stand-behind-and-stick-your-face-in/584667/8 "2011-06-11T02:18:37Z")
> [@Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](#): > > …photographed in a fake “vintage B&W setting.” Well now THAT I do know the word for: The yellowish, old timey looking photographs are “sepia” toned. > **[Sepia (color)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sepia_(color))** > > Sepia is a reddish-brown color, named after the rich brown pigment derived from the ink sac of the common cuttlefish Sepia. The word sepia is the Latinized form of the Ancient Greek words σηπία, sēpía, cuttlefish. > Sepia ink was commonly used for writing in Greco-Roman civilization. It remained in common use as an artist's drawing material until the 19th century. In the last quarter of the 18th century, Professor Jakob Seydelmann of Dresden developed a process to extract and produce a concentrate... ---
**Author:** ![JK55092](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/6f9a4e/32.png) [@JK55092](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JK55092)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2012, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-it-called-paintings-you-stand-behind-and-stick-your-face-in/584667/9 "2012-12-09T22:30:07Z")
tintamarresque ---
**Author:** ![Michael63129](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3da27b/32.png) [@Michael63129](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Michael63129)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2012, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-it-called-paintings-you-stand-behind-and-stick-your-face-in/584667/10 "2012-12-09T22:46:18Z")
> [@JK55092](#): > > tintamarresque A Google search seems to indicate that is a French word with no English equivalent, even when I try to translate it (closest is “billboard with a face cut-out”). Also, note the date of the last post; its annoying when people revive an old thread just to post (and why did you sign up just to do so?). ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2012, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-it-called-paintings-you-stand-behind-and-stick-your-face-in/584667/11 "2012-12-09T23:22:03Z")
As it happens, this thing (whatever you want to call it) happens to have been part of one of the biggest TV disasters of all time. It was a show that was so bad that it was cancelled after the first episode. The host of the show (Jackie Gleason) filled up the time period the next week just in apologizing for how bad the show was. I looked up a bunch of websites about the show in hopes that it would give me the name for this item. There doesn’t seem to be any very standard name. One name they are called is carnival cardboard cutouts, although I don’t think they are usually made of cardboard. Here’s some websites about the show: > **[You're in the Picture](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/You're_in_the_Picture)** > > You're in the Picture is an American television game show that aired on CBS for only one episode on Friday, January 20, 1961 at 9:30pm, the evening of the Inauguration of John F. Kennedy. > The show, created by Don Lipp and Bob Synes, was an attempt by its host and star Jackie Gleason to "demonstrate versatility" after his success within variety shows and The Honeymooners. Gleason was joined by Johnny Olson as announcer and Dennis James doing live commercials for sponsor Kellogg's cereals. > Tec... [http://www.tvparty.com/picture.html](http://www.tvparty.com/picture.html) > **[Jackie Gleason : "You're in the Picture" - Vidéo Dailymotion](https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x5kwd0)** > > Jackie Gleason s'exprime sur son jeu TV "You're in the Picture" qui floppa au bout d'un numéro en 1961. Kinescope en domaine publique > **[You're in the Picture - Television Obscurities](http://www.tvobscurities.com/spotlight/youre-in-the-picture-the-jackie-gleason-show/)** > > Jackie Gleason's You're in the Picture is one of the most infamous flops in television history. The game show was cancelled after just one episode. [http://www.tv.pop-cult.com/youre-in-the-picture.html](http://www.tv.pop-cult.com/youre-in-the-picture.html) [http://www.aoltv.com/2010/03/14/jackie-gleason-apologizes-for-bad-show-why-dont-more-people-do/](http://www.aoltv.com/2010/03/14/jackie-gleason-apologizes-for-bad-show-why-dont-more-people-do/) ---
**Author:** ![Toxylon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f05b48/32.png) [@Toxylon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Toxylon)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2012, 10:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-it-called-paintings-you-stand-behind-and-stick-your-face-in/584667/12 "2012-12-11T10:48:15Z")
> [@Michael63129](#): > > Also, note the date of the last post; its annoying when people revive an old thread just to post (and why did you sign up just to do so?). Given that we’re fighting ignorance here, and this is General Questions, what’s it to you that someone who has an answer to some old, undisclosed question shows up here? People have all kinds of motives to sign up, their reasons are completely irrelevant. It’s not like we are discussing personal IMHO issues or current hot-button politics in this case, anyway. Sorry for the hijack. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2012, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-it-called-paintings-you-stand-behind-and-stick-your-face-in/584667/13 "2012-12-11T13:18:46Z")
I can’t find any evidence that the French word “tintamarresque” means anything like what we’re talking about. In fact, it’s not even a noun. It’s an adjective in French: [http://fr.wiktionary.org/wiki/tintamarresque](http://fr.wiktionary.org/wiki/tintamarresque) ---
**Author:** ![gatorslap](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gatorslap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gatorslap)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2012, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-it-called-paintings-you-stand-behind-and-stick-your-face-in/584667/14 "2012-12-11T15:51:11Z")
The -esque suffix means it’s an adjective. Google translates tintamarre as “hurly-burly”, so tintamarresque would be the adjective form of that. Hurly-burly-esque. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2012, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-it-called-paintings-you-stand-behind-and-stick-your-face-in/584667/15 "2012-12-11T15:58:23Z")
That’s nice, but where’s the proof that either the noun or the adjective mean anything connected with the subject of this thread? ---
**Author:** ![gatorslap](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gatorslap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gatorslap)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2012, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-it-called-paintings-you-stand-behind-and-stick-your-face-in/584667/16 "2012-12-11T16:49:46Z")
I’m pretty sure they don’t. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2012, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-it-called-paintings-you-stand-behind-and-stick-your-face-in/584667/17 "2012-12-12T03:03:55Z")
So what was the point of your post (#14)? I said that it was an adjective. The link that I had in my point gave the definition in French, and it was clear from it that neither it nor the noun it was derived from had anything to do with the subject of the thread. What point were you making with your post? ---
**Author:** ![PlainJain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/5daacb/32.png) [@PlainJain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PlainJain)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2012, 5:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-it-called-paintings-you-stand-behind-and-stick-your-face-in/584667/18 "2012-12-12T05:22:48Z")
> [@Wendell\_Wagner](#): > > So what was the point of your post (#14)? I said that it was an adjective. The link that I had in my point gave the definition in French, and it was clear from it that neither it nor the noun it was derived from had anything to do with the subject of the thread. What point were you making with your post? He’s just being timtamarresque. ---
**Author:** ![gatorslap](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gatorslap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gatorslap)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2012, 5:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-it-called-paintings-you-stand-behind-and-stick-your-face-in/584667/19 "2012-12-12T05:28:21Z")
> [@Wendell\_Wagner](#): > > So what was the point of your post (#14)? I said that it was an adjective. The link that I had in my point gave the definition in French, and it was clear from it that neither it nor the noun it was derived from had anything to do with the subject of the thread. What point were you making with your post? That you were correct? Jeez, I didn’t know I had to be disagreeing to reply. ---
**Author:** ![ed\_anger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/bbce88/32.png) [@ed\_anger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ed_anger)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2012, 5:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-it-called-paintings-you-stand-behind-and-stick-your-face-in/584667/20 "2012-12-12T05:30:25Z")
> [@Michael63129](#): > > A Google search seems to indicate that is a French word with no English equivalent, even when I try to translate it (closest is “billboard with a face cut-out”). > > Also, note the date of the last post; its annoying when people revive an old thread just to post (and why did you sign up just to do so?). a lot must annoy you then. the facts are never out of style. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-it-called-paintings-you-stand-behind-and-stick-your-face-in/584667.md?page=2)