Last updated on November 3rd, 2022 at 08:51 pm
For more than 90 years, many tourists have been intrigued by the gripping mystery of a bridal mannequin dubbed La Pascualita: the Corpse Bride.
After all, embalmed corpses have become a popular tourist attraction as macabre stories enthrall many.
But, dressed in bridal wear and exhibited in a storefront window, La Pascualita is not your average mannequin.
The La Pasculaita is the most famous mannequin in Mexico. Many have traveled for miles down to Mexico to satisfy their curiosity on whether the lifelike girl wearing a wedding gown in a small wedding dress shop in Chihuahua, Mexico, is a bridal mannequin or a real corpse being used as one.
No one knows if she is truly the embalmed corpse of a bride displayed on a window or just a dummy created with excellent attention to detail.
However, it’s hard to believe and understand how an actual dead body could survive for this long, regardless of how well-preserved it is.
The Story of La Pascualita
On the 25th of March 1930, Pascuala Esparza’s bridal boutique in Chihuahua, Mexico, displayed a new bridal mannequin, reportedly wearing a bridal gown from the spring-summer collection.
Naturally, this attracted widespread attention in the small town as soon as she made her first appearance.
The appearance of the La Pasculaita mannequin shouldn’t have been anything strange.
However, the locals were immediately struck by the mannequin’s eerie appearance and its uncanny resemblance to the late daughter of the shop owner Pascuala Esparza. So naturally, this sparked rumors among locals.
They concluded that the displayed mannequin was the embalmed corpse of Esparza’s daughter. She had passed away tragically on her wedding day after being bitten by a black widow spider and succumbing to its poison.
Also, it wasn’t long after her demise that the mannequin was displayed in the shop window, erasing doubts that it was no dummy.
This revelation did not sit well with the locals as they started to express their disapproval. Of course, Esparza denied claims that she had her daughter embalmed.
However, nobody believed her as she always refused to show proof that La Pascualita was just a mannequin. Interestingly, the daughter’s name has been lost over time, and La Pasculaita has stuck through the years.
La Pascualita Mannequin over the Years
The La Pascualita Mannequin has been on display for over ninety years and has special characteristics. Many have noticed that its hands look surprisingly real. The hands have wrinkles, veins, and worn-out nails, giving credence to the story.
Also, its strange skin color, rosy cheeks, glassy eyes, and naturally flowing hair have made the shop workers and passers-by feel uneasy.
This intriguing image gave birth to the legend that Esparza had her daughter’s body mummified and put in the shop window so her daughter could be the bride she never got to be in life.
Many customers have reported that this spectacular mannequin’s eyes follow them as they walk around the store. Others claim they turn around to find her in a different position.
A particular shop worker, Sonia Burciaga, who was responsible for changing the dummy’s outfit twice a week, said, “Every time I go near Pascualita, my hands break out in a sweat. Her hands are very realistic, and she even has varicose veins on her legs. I believe she is a real person.”
There Has Been Constant Debate on the Genuineness of La Pascualita
Over the decades, there have been endless debates on the genuineness of La Pascualita.
Many have voiced their opinions on this strange story, with some supporting the story that it is a real person and others debunking it.
Experts, funeral directors, morticians, and even amateurs have made compelling arguments on both sides of the debate.
However, many experts agree that the bridal mannequin is not an embalmed corpse.
Some said that the environment must be controlled for a corpse to stay in perfect condition.
The embalming must be impeccable and constant work must be done, especially if the mannequin is being handled daily for dress changes.
All of these may not be possible in the small Chihuahua bridal shop window. Even if it were achievable, it is unlikely it would look the way La Pascualita does after 90 years.
As the Museum of Hoaxes stated, “… it would be impossible to embalm someone and have their flesh be preserved that perfectly.” Even with all this information, many still believe that the La Pasculalita mannequin is a real-life corpse bride.
Many have noted the drying and receding skin on her hands as proof that she is a real corpse. However, it seems impossible for an embalmed corpse of over nine decades to survive the Mexican heat.
But regardless of which side of the argument you agree on, there is no denying that the story of La Pasculaita is a gripping one. So whether she is the embalmed corpse of Esparza’s daughter or a perfectly detailed bridal mannequin, her fame has attracted tourists and locals alike to the small bridal boutique.
La Pascualita has become a staple for the community and a tale to be told for generations to come. People still smudge their noses against the dainty shop window, trying to determine if the mannequin is real.
Therefore, the question remains: could La Pasculaita be a 90-year-old corpse? Sadly, the answer remains elusive, and no one will ever know for sure.
Where Is the La Pascualita Mannequin Today?
La Pasculaita still sits in the window of the boutique bridal shop in Chihuahua, Mexico. However, it is rumored that she was removed from the window and taken to Mexico City for a display in 2019.
Many people claim that the bridal mannequin returned was switched, as the one currently displayed looks different from the figure that haunted them in the past years.
Today, the bridal store is known as La Casa De Pascualita (The Home of Pascualita). It is located at Calle Guadalupe Victoria 803, Zona Centro, 31000 Chihuahua, Mexico. So if you ever get to Mexico, see the store for yourself and decide on the genuineness of La Pascualita.
Go see Lenin in Red Square. He’s well preserved by the entire resources of the Soviet Union (past) and Russia (present). His fingers are far more degraded than these show.