The year is 1906. There's been a murder. Folks are invited to solve the crime.

And I've been invited to make a Face-In-Hole Stand-In like these.

Typically I have no problem, but I'm creativity bouncing all over the place here and can't find or come up with a clearly brilliant idea that I'm compelled to make into real engaging interactive art. I've been researching imagery half the day. History is overwhelming, plus overwhelming freedom aspects, and then also making it fun/funny/insightful might be too much to hope for.

I've discovered that searching for famous Canadian historical painting or photos of people is pointless - unless you're looking for more modern fair or celebrities. Not even any good 1812 paintings to spoof. Laura Secord and Louis Riel and the rest of Canadian history is bland. (I was thinking of something like the famous "Spirit Of 76" - but Canadian.)

Criteria:

• the stand-in should be family-friendly
• the stand-in should evidently be from 1906 or earlier, more or less
• the stand-in should also be reused for freedom events
  • some simple modifications may be applied or removed for different events
• the stand-in should have some humour, gag, wit, insight, levity, fun
• the stand-in ideally should be Canadian
• the stand-in can be
  1. a reprinted photo, image, painting, drawing, etc., famous or not
  2. a mashup
  3. an original
• the stand-in can be
  1. holes for faces
  2. small chin-rests on top
  3. mannequins or statues absent heads
• the stand-in should cover the people except their face/head

Where the "Dead On Arrival" Murder Mystery takes place (to be decorated by us): https://projex.wiki/wiki/Template:Essex_Heritage_Village_2024

The Museum site and event flyer: https://ctmhv.com/events/

More image references:

A poor article: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photo_stand-in

Many good efforts: https://duckduckgo.com/?q=Photo+stand-in+head+in+hole&iar=images

Tips and tricks: https://blog.photocutouts.co.uk/face-in-hole-technique-getting-it-right/