Get Premium
Dark mode theme is available exclusively for premium users. Learn more about the benefits of subscribing.
No fees, cancel anytime.
Dark Mode 
No fees, cancel anytime 
then open in external browser
and click "Open in External Browser" 
Cardboard cutouts can be a fun thing for an event, doesn't matter if it's for kids or for adults. You can put your face inside a hole and become an animal, a character from your favorite franchise, or just use it as an opportunity for a silly photo op. Unfortunately, not all cutouts come out anatomically correct.
Or maybe, for our laughing sake, fortunately? This selection of weird and laughable face cutouts from our listmakers is proof that this is an art, too, and that designers should approach it with artistry and care. So scroll down the list, dear panda, and upvote your favorite entries.
This post may include affiliate links.
#1
This Cardboard Shrek
RELATED:
#2
So Much Nonsense Out There
Why Hello There 2 years ago
Is no one gonna talk about the other child lurking in the shadows?!
Bouche and Audi and Shyla, Oh My! 2 years ago
I'd want to be one of the dogs. Don't tell Bouche or Audi I said that.
Nonna_SoF 2 years ago
Too late. Prepare to be passive-aggressively laid on!
Load More Replies...
@Toadofficial 2 years ago
OK THE KID IN THE OTHER HOLE WHAT THE FAQ IS THAT EVEN A KID?! HOLY COW ?
#3
Horrible Cutout
TotallyNOTAFox 2 years ago (edited)
Important question: Who the hell wants to become french?
Load More Replies...
Xitxarel•lo Panda 2 years ago
I see a lot of stereotypes here. I traveled a lot to France , and trust me nobody wear that clothes. The baguette thing ..... Well the best bread I ate was a baguette in a tiny town....it was amazing flavored.
Gamin Coda 2 years ago
Let's see the other side... this is the back... the front should be lined up.
Sticking your face in a cutout and taking a picture is a staple at carnivals, birthdays or other events. The classics are the muscle man or a woman in a bathing suit, but nowadays you can find almost any type of cutout.
What's interesting is that these pieces of cardboard or wood have a much more sophisticated name. "Comic foregrounds" is the official term, bestowed upon the pieces by their original creator Cassius "Cash" Coolidge.
#4
I Have Always Wanted To Be A Horse's Back
Sea Squirrel 2 years ago
It says it's financed by 'Heineken for Communities' in Romania. I guess they also financed drinks for the person who made this?
#5
Face Cutout Board For Terese's Bridal Shower
Aisling Raye 2 years ago
I feel like this is another thing where the personalities of the group of friends and family comes into play. I can see how this would be in poor taste for some but my friends and family would do something like this and it would be fun and funny.... but that's all based on the relationship I have with them.
Andy Frobig 2 years ago
This is ironic to me because I've known a few women who spent years planning their wedding, and just needed a head to put on top of the tuxedo
#6
Face In A Hole At Mr. Toilet House In Suwon, Korea
Lemme get the lemons 2 years ago
SkIbIdI tOiLeT!?!? That is my favourite show ever, it has such an amazing character arc!/s
EmiTheEpic 2 years ago
Was waiting for the obligatory Skibidi Toilet joke lol
Load More Replies...
heather7d@yahoo.com 2 years ago
Mr. Toilet House?? You know what, never mind. I’m sure I’m better off not knowing. 😆
If you've ever seen the famous Dogs Playing Poker paintings, you've probably heard of Coolidge. He was a self-taught artist who also painted cartoons and taught penmanship. His paintings depicting dogs in human situations are best-known today, and he is most likely the inventor of that motif.
But let's come back to the comic foregrounds. He received a patent for "Processes of Taking Photographic Pictures" on April 14, 1974. The patent reads: "The nature of my invention consists in a process of taking a photograph or other picture of a person's head large on a miniature body."
#7
Ever Wanted To Become A Flip-Flop?
Bouche and Audi and Shyla, Oh My! 2 years ago
We have better things to do than pose for stupid pictures for soft can-openers. Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.
#8
Interesting Artwork
#9
This Face Hole Thing
Bouche and Audi and Shyla, Oh My! 2 years ago
If you were about to have someone's head sticking out of your lower neck, you'd make that face, too!
Load More Replies...
Joel Lewis describes Coolidge's invention as "carnival cutouts." "The device was a painted wooden facade featuring a colorful character in an outlandish situation with a hole where the head should be." A person could stick their head into the hole and a photographer would capture the image for posterity.
#10
The Position Of These Cutouts
Laura Williams 2 years ago
I have so many questions. Who is the satan worshipping drug addict who approved this? Why did they put it up? Just those two to start with.
#11
Alright Kids, Who Wants To Be A Severed Head With Elsa And Olaf?
#12
Totally Sleighed It
The most popular iterations of the genre were "a weightlifting hunk," a "bathing beauty," a "swimmer perilously clenched in the mouth of a shark" or a "fat man in a bathing suit." Yet Coolidge penned over 200 drawings of possible characters for beachgoers to get photographed as.
#13
Yes, I Love Being An Eye
Ruben Schelstraete 2 years ago
Can you all not see it ? de smile suppose to be the double chin !
#14
"Yeah, Whatever, Kids Are Stupid Anyway"
CertifiedCatServant (he/him) 2 years ago
So right. I don’t understand the double standard where it’s rude for a kid to say adults are stupid but the other way around it’s completely fine
Load More Replies...
Some Weirdo 2 years ago
Forget the giraffe! What In the dirty teeth hippo is the thing next to it!
PlatinumThe8-BitCat 2 years ago (edited)
I think that’s a hand, might just be me, but I think the cut-out might be themed on the Madagascar movie, because the giraffe looks a lot like the character Melman, so I think that’s jus Alex the lion’s hand
Load More Replies... 
In many of the drawings, Coolidge used images of animals. There's a human head with the body of a monkey among his sketches. Human heads disassociated from the human body seemed to interest Coolidge in general. There are many sketches depicting severed heads; in one of them, a head is even served on a platter.
#16
Anyone Wanna Take A Picture With Their Face As A Bird’s Chest?
#17
This Isn't How Animal Faces Work, I'm Sure
Bouche and Audi and Shyla, Oh My! 2 years ago
This is how animal faces work when they're about to chomp you.
#18
Always Wanted To Be A Zebra-Donkey
In many of Coolidge's other sketches, the characters are simply vignettes of simple everyday life. Jordan Beer and Albert Narah suggest that it wasn't the imaginative setting that attracted customers. "It was the possibility of memorializing the act of being represented itself – of recording one’s own re-creation as an image," they write.
#19
This Is One Of Those Cardboard Character Cutouts With A Hole In Them, So That Kids Can Stick Their Heads In It And Be The Character. In This Case, You Can Be The Bird's Eye
#20
Redcar, One Place We Will Never Go Again. What Are The Other Two Holes For, By The Way?
Roan The Demon Kitty 2 years ago
bit of a dumb design, but i'd imagine for children. like.. parent could be in the middle, with their two kids at either side. Obviously. (also lemon tops are f*****g amazing. redcar may have its downfalls but it's not that bad jfc)
#21
Face In A Hole In Front Of Manatee Tour Office In Florida, US. At The Entrance Of Manatee Tour Center
Ruben Schelstraete 2 years ago
I think you are suppose to put your nipple there so de baby manatee can drink !
The photo stand-in we know nowadays actually predates Coolidge's design. Yet he is still credited as the inventor of the comic foregrounds. Coolidge acknowledges this in his patent, but his successful marketing is probably the reason why today we know him as the father of photo stand-ins.
#22
Not All Characters Work As Cardboard Cutouts
#23
Photo Cutout Board At My Local Fair. Just, What?
Funhog 2 years ago
So, half of the crowd thinks it's a photo cutout board and the other half thinks it's for a bean bag toss game... that'll make for some interesting photos: Incoming! 😲
Load More Replies... 
Tourist attractions in 19th-century Egypt are somewhat similar to what we today understand as photo stand-ins. They weren't particularly created or painted for that purpose, but rather were existing historical artifacts. A hole would be in the place of a face in a sarcophagus and tourists could stick their faces in it for a picture. One example is the Archduke of Austria Franz Ferdinand posing as a mummy in Cairo in 1984.
#25
Hmm, Interesting One
#26
Hmmm, Ok
#27
This Horrible Cardboard Cutout
Another example of early photo stand-ins is seen in the pictures taken by photographers Pascal Sebah and Émile Béchard in Cairo in the 1870s. It also features a man and a woman putting their faces in a sarcophagus, replicating the look of a mummy.
#28
Face In A Hole At Kimchi-Kan In Seoul, Korea
Mara Was… A Surgeon 2 years ago
I just noticed this is a whole Indra account, pretty funny pics 😂
#29
This Cutout My Local Japanese Government Gave Me To Illustrate And Warn About What Can Fit In A Baby's Mouth
EmiTheEpic 2 years ago
This one’s helpful, as it helps identify choking hazards. In the uk, we were told to use a toilet roll inside, and if something fit through the tube, a toddler could choke on it.
TotallyNOTAFox 2 years ago
To be faIr, that's a clever idea - the design is quite questionable though
lupo mulder 2 years ago
these are actually handfans, the japanese hand out with advertising on it clever repurposing
#30
What's Wrong With A Child Wearing It On His Face?
I wonder how many people were disappointed by the poor penmanship of the failed attempts at artistry from this list. In a way, a photo stand-in gone wrong is an unforgettable souvenir in itself. A cardboard cutout might be enticing because of its absurdity as well. So let us know which cutout fails you liked the best, pandas. Upvote your favorites!
#31
Face In A Hole At Gelarto Rosa In Front Of The Saint Stephen Basilica In Budapest, Hungary
Rob(erta) Roy (They/Them) 2 years ago
I got ice cream once and it looked almost exactly like that.
#32
This Is Just Weird
#33
The Position Of This Hole For Your Head Was Put In
GenericSodaPop 2 years ago
Usually there's a platform, steps or a stool behind the cardboard.
Load More Replies...
LakotaWolf (she/her) 2 years ago (edited)
1. Why does the horse only have three legs? 2. WHAT IS HAPPENING WITH ITS FRONT FORELEG AHHH
Awkward Momma Panda 2 years ago
Your comment is repeating my internal monologue in reaction to this photo…almost ver batim 😐
Load More Replies...
Friendly neighborhood possum 2 years ago
Note to myself: Horses aren’t exactly the best animals to put on a cutout board.
#35
Our Local Wildlife Shelter Has A Weird Idea About How Photo Cutouts Are Built
Mara Was… A Surgeon 2 years ago
To be honest, I'm not sure how most of these could be done right
Mario Strada 2 years ago
I'd start with Photoshop and a few faces. Take it from there.
Load More Replies...
Analyn Lahr 2 years ago
For a wildlife shelter, none of those cutouts represent wildlife. Those are all considered domesticated.
#36
That Isn’t How A Face Works
#37
Is This How Faces Work, Really?
#38
I Went Into A Place Where Only Children Were Taking Pictures And Snapped. Even If You Wake Up Without Makeup, If There's A Face Hole, I'll Take A Photo
#39
This Cardboard Cutout Makes Me Want To Commit A Hate Crime
Laura Williams 2 years ago
At least this one is close. I know you never see among us faces but that is closer than most of these.
#40
I Surely Do Look Like A Fish
me McG 2 years ago
I get that the hole in the fish is on porpoise ... but just what's going on in the boat above?
Mermeow Overlord (they/them) 2 years ago
Fishing, but I'm not sure if it's normal to lean over the edge so much.
Load More Replies...
#41
Um, What Exactly Am I Supposed To Fit In Those Cutouts? (Hand For Scale)
Ryan Mercer 2 years ago
Put a couple hamsters in back and smear a bit of peanut butter on the chins.
#42
Holes For Faces Not Where The Faces Are
Panda-sized Potato 2 years ago
It makes it look like the ocean is very murderous: eaten by a stingray, strangled by a squid, and beheaded by a sea turtle.
#43
Eaten By A Crazy Bear, I Suppose?
#44
These Horrible "Your Face Here" Cutouts
Laura Williams 2 years ago
The amount of thought put in this makes these not worth the effort.
#45
Face Cutouts Done Wrong
#47
Why Does This Reindeer Have 2 Smiles?
#48
What Does This Even Mean?
#49
This Wheelchair-Accessible "Put Your Face In The Hole" Photo-Stand
#50
Butterfly Arc
Laura Williams 2 years ago
Why not put other girl on picture and, leave the butterfly as butterflies
Add New Image
What do you think ?
You May Like A Crash Course On Curse Words In Sign Language 40 Internet Know-It-Alls Who Embarrassed Themselves By Correcting Others Incorrectly 38 Instances Of People Witnessing Such Sheer Stupidity That They Didn’t Think It Was Real
Greta Jaruševičiūtė
Justinas Keturka
Denis Krotovas
Related on Bored Panda
