- Hi, today we will celebrate the culture of the Mexican people. I, as a white lady, will
get drunk and eat tacos! No, I'm not gonna do that, but what I will offer you is a primer on Mexico's most famous
mannequin corpse bride, La Pascualita. It's not like you guys
haven't been asking about her. Seeing as I am a benevolent mortician, your wish is my command,
but know this, deathlings, you don't own me. Oh. Yeah, I guess ya kinda do. The story of La Pascualita
begins in March of 1930, when a new mannequin
appeared in the window of Pascuala Esparza's
Chihuahua bridal shop. Chihuahua bridal shop? That's the Mexican state of Chihuahua, not a bridal shop for small dogs, although that's my dream. People were immediately taken
with how strikingly lifelike this mannequin looked. She had long flowing hair, rosy cheeks, eyes that seemed to follow
you as you walked by. Most of all, the locals noticed how much the mannequin resembled Pascuala's deceased daughter. You see, not long before this mannequin appeared in the window, Pascuala's
daughter supposedly died on her wedding day from the
bite of a black widow spider. Other versions of the story have her dying from the sting of a scorpion or hurling herself off a cliff when her mother didn't approve
of her choice of betrothed. Point being, Pascuala
Esparza's daughter was dead. However, just because
Pascuala's daughter was dead didn't mean that she was buried, or so thought the Chihuahua locals. With the mannequins resemblance to Pascuala's departed daughter, as well as the exceptional
detail in its face and body, people are especially obsessed with the mannequins realistic hands, locals started whispering
that the mannequin was in fact Pascuala's
daughter's deceased corpse, and thus began the
legend of La Pascualita, or little Pascuala. As La Pascualita's fame grew, so to did the tales surrounding her. Some say that she changes
positions on her own at night. Some say she even had a hand in rigging the 2016 U.S.
Presidential Election. Thanks, La Pascualita. From accounts of La Pascualita actually possessing varicose veins, to her clandestine romance
with a French magician who brings her to life at night to dance her around the shop, the legends of La Pascualita
are grand and creepy and center on the belief
that she is not a mannequin, but a corpse. And while La Pascualita has
never been properly examined, science proving that she
is or is not a corpse, it is nearly impossible that she is. Unless the corpse is inside the mannequin? No. I'm just gonna say it. La Pascualita is not a corpse. We've talked about this
in previous videos, but preserving a human body in such pristine
non-horror show conditions is just not going to happen
in a bridal shop window. First of all, La Pascualita
was not taxidermied. You cannot taxidermy a human the same way you would
taxidermy an animal, and even if you could, it would not look anything
like La Pascualita. While an animal might have fur or feathers covering its body, humans generally do not. Therefor you wouldn't be able
to hide the seams and stitches on a taxidermied human. Do you see any seams or
stitches on La Pascualita? Any taxidermist will tell you that even if somehow the seems
and stitches were all hidden under her wedding dress, there is no way that her
preserved and hairless body would look so pleasantly lifelike. What about embalming then? Could La Pascualita be
a perfectly embalmed and preserved corpse
like say, Vladimir Lenin? No. While it's possible for an embalmed corpse to stay relatively intact
for a long period of time, a body like Lenin's
requires a devoted team of professionals working and tending to it like it's their job, because it is. Lenin's body is basically
a science experiment at this point, getting
regularly re-embalmed, kept in a special climate
controlled environment with secret government procedures to keep the corpse looking lifelike. Even with all of this, Lenin's
body has suffered from mold and needed various body parts
replaced over the years. It takes a whole team
of biomedical engineers keeping Lenin's body looking up to snuff. Do you think La Pascualita
has a squad like that? I don't think so. Standing in that bridal
shop window in Chihuahua, exposed to sunlight, and moisture, and bacteria, and humidity, there's no way that a
corpse like La Pascualita, without professional maintenance, could still look so flawless
after almost 90 years. Even if someone did a perfect job of embalming her initially,
such perfection would not last. Among other things, her
skin would've molded, parts of her face and body would have shriveled,
decayed, and discolored, and yes, there would be odors. Sorry, deathlings. As eerie and intriguing as the
legend of La Pascualita is, it is the opinion of this mortician that La Pascualita is not
an 87 year old corpse, but an 87 year old mannequin
with some killer PR. This buzzkill has been brought to you by Caitlin Doughty and the
Order of the Good Death. Do you have a favorite death
or corpse-related hoax? Or perhaps there's an iconic corpse you want us to talk about? Mention it in the comments
like you did La Pascualita, and perhaps we'll talk
about it in another video. Brought to you with support from People's Memorial Association and the Co-Op Funeral Home, and donations from viewers like you. No, no, no. No.
