WEBVTT - Short Stuff: La Pascualita

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<v Speaker 1>Hey, and welcome to the Short Stuff. I'm Josh, and

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<v Speaker 1>there's Chuck and this is Short Stuff the Urban Legend

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<v Speaker 1>from Chihuahua Edition. Yeah, I've never heard of this. This

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<v Speaker 1>is kind of fun. You found this. I think La

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<v Speaker 1>Pascualita colon bridal shop mannequin or embalmed course, And that's

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<v Speaker 1>from Lauren David at How Stuff Works. Yeah, for sure.

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<v Speaker 1>And so La Pasqualita is a bridal shop mannequin and

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<v Speaker 1>has been keeping up her side of the bargain since

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<v Speaker 1>the nineteen thirties by being a mannequin. Yeah, that's a

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<v Speaker 1>long lived mannequin. I mean, how many mannequins do you

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<v Speaker 1>think are at Macy's that were put into into work

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<v Speaker 1>put to work in the nineteen thirties? Just the old

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<v Speaker 1>Marge Okay, one out of thousands, right, So that in

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<v Speaker 1>and of itself is pretty impressive. But what makes La

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<v Speaker 1>Pascualita even more impressive, or more interesting even is that

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<v Speaker 1>a lot of people, especially in the Chihuahua area, believe

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<v Speaker 1>that she's not a mannequin at all, that she's actually

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<v Speaker 1>an embalmed corpse, specifically the embalmed corpse of the original

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<v Speaker 1>owner of La Popular bridal dress shop in Chihuahua, Mexico.

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<v Speaker 1>That's right. I urge you to go when you can

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<v Speaker 1>safely do so. Look up pictures of La Pascualita and

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<v Speaker 1>specifically just put in as your search term La Pascualita

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<v Speaker 1>mannequin hands, Yeah, because that is one of the creepiest

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<v Speaker 1>parts of this mannequin. Are these? I mean, it looks

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<v Speaker 1>like no mannequin hands that I've seen. They look like,

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<v Speaker 1>at worst, like a Madame Tussau's dummy hands. I would

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<v Speaker 1>say even more detail than that. I've never seen more

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<v Speaker 1>life like non life hands in my life. You ever

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<v Speaker 1>been to Madame Tussau's I have, and I'm telling you

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<v Speaker 1>this mannequin hasn't beaten well. The story of Lo Pascualita, Um,

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<v Speaker 1>you know, it's an urban legend, and usually when there's

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<v Speaker 1>an urban legend, you can't pinpoint like any head cannon. Uh.

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<v Speaker 1>It's usually just a story kind of passed around that

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<v Speaker 1>morrison changes. And that's probably the case here. But as

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<v Speaker 1>the story goes in the nineteen thirties, the she's known

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<v Speaker 1>as the corpse Bride, was going to get married and

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<v Speaker 1>her mom. Uh. There's a couple of different versions. One

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<v Speaker 1>was her mother was not in favor of the marriage

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<v Speaker 1>and the daughter it like broke her heart, so she died.

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<v Speaker 1>I saw other versions where she was bitten by a

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<v Speaker 1>black widow or there are other sort of like bug

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<v Speaker 1>stings and bites that killed her, depending on who's telling

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<v Speaker 1>the story separately, not all at once, right, depending on

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<v Speaker 1>the story. Right. And that mama was so distraught that

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<v Speaker 1>she had this her daughter's body mummified or and or embalmed,

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<v Speaker 1>and said you're gonna live in my window as the

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<v Speaker 1>corpse bride forevermore right, Yeah, which is kind of sweet

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<v Speaker 1>in a lot of ways. Kind of The woman, by

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<v Speaker 1>the way, that you're speaking of who had her daughter

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<v Speaker 1>embalmed is named Pasquala Esparza, the owner of the Bridle

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<v Speaker 1>shop in the thirties when La Pasqualita made her debut

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<v Speaker 1>and local people said, look at those hands. I don't

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<v Speaker 1>know what Madame Tousseau is it yet, but this beats them. Yeah,

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<v Speaker 1>never seen hands like that in my entire life. But

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<v Speaker 1>also doesn't that mannequin bear a very strong resemblance to

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<v Speaker 1>Pasquala's daughter who's now dead. I think that's really odd.

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<v Speaker 1>Did you think she did? I didn't think she looked

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<v Speaker 1>a whole lot like her. No, but we'll get to

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<v Speaker 1>that in a minute. There's a reason why she didn't

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<v Speaker 1>look a whole lot like There's a picture that you're

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<v Speaker 1>referring to, I think on the internet where it shows

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<v Speaker 1>a picture of Pasquala's daughter and then a picture of

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<v Speaker 1>La Pascualita the mannequin. Right, yeah, that sounds like a

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<v Speaker 1>great cliffhanger. Okay, all right, we'll be going back stout.

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<v Speaker 1>Stop you shouldn't, I should know, all right, I'm hanging

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<v Speaker 1>let's hear it. Oh, okay, Well, the reason that the

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<v Speaker 1>mannequin La Pasqualita doesn't look anything like the daughter of

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<v Speaker 1>Pasquala that has shown in that picture is that the

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<v Speaker 1>woman of pictures not the daughter of pasqual There was

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<v Speaker 1>no daughter of Pasquala as far as okay, has that

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<v Speaker 1>been super confirmed? Because this all how stuff works, dug up.

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<v Speaker 1>A woman named Teresa Cordova, who did a dissertation in

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<v Speaker 1>twenty twelve from the University of New Mexico that had

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<v Speaker 1>to do with this, went down to the shop to

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<v Speaker 1>interview them. I don't know if it is still the

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<v Speaker 1>same family. That's one thing I couldn't find. I don't

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<v Speaker 1>believe it is, but it's it's the shop's been open

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<v Speaker 1>the whole time, but I believe it's changed hands, all right,

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<v Speaker 1>changed creepy mummified hands that had an interview lined up

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<v Speaker 1>with the manager. The manager did not show up for

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<v Speaker 1>the interview, and they said that, you know, she got

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<v Speaker 1>back in touch and they said, no, we think it's

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<v Speaker 1>bad luck, so we're not going to do this interview.

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<v Speaker 1>And she proposed, Hey, this is all just a marketing

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<v Speaker 1>thing because I have done some pretty extensive public record

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<v Speaker 1>searching and I have not found that this daughter exists,

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<v Speaker 1>So they're not gonna do this interview because this negative

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<v Speaker 1>publicity and missing is a great marketing tool. Yeah, that's

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<v Speaker 1>what I was basing it on. Cordova's research. Okay, she

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<v Speaker 1>searched for obituaries church documents at the local church historical

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<v Speaker 1>records and found no record of Pasquala A. Sparza having

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<v Speaker 1>a daughter or at all, let alone one that died.

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<v Speaker 1>That's that's how I take it. Okay, As far as

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<v Speaker 1>whether or not this could be a embalmed human being,

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<v Speaker 1>not only did how stuff works interview some embalmers and

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<v Speaker 1>people in the funeral industry, but I got on Reddit

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<v Speaker 1>the source for all information, and there were quite a

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<v Speaker 1>few embalmers who weighed in, and all of them said,

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<v Speaker 1>there's just no way, like the most super plus plus

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<v Speaker 1>two point zero embalming that you could ever do on somebody,

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<v Speaker 1>if you really wanted someone to last a long time

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<v Speaker 1>for some weird reason, there's just no way it would

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<v Speaker 1>last seas long this long, especially in these conditions like

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<v Speaker 1>La Pascualita, if it were an embalmed corps. First of all,

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<v Speaker 1>this is like has been standing in a sunny, bright

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<v Speaker 1>window for ninety years. That all that alone says nope,

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<v Speaker 1>not a corpse. Thing would have rotted by now. It

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<v Speaker 1>would certainly not look like it does today, which is

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<v Speaker 1>in pretty good shape. Right. The second thing is there

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<v Speaker 1>are corpses out there that have been embalmed and kept

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<v Speaker 1>preserved for very long time, like Lennon's corpse. I don't

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<v Speaker 1>remember when he died, but I think it was the

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<v Speaker 1>thirties as well. And if you look at him, he's

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<v Speaker 1>still looking okay, that's clearly a corpse. But also he's

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<v Speaker 1>kept under extremely specific conditions. There's a team of people

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<v Speaker 1>who whose job it is is to keep him, you know,

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<v Speaker 1>up to snuff. Yeah. Yeah, essentially, and over the years,

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<v Speaker 1>through all of these updates and like freshen ups, he's

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<v Speaker 1>basically been turned into rubber. Yeah. So you couldn't just

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<v Speaker 1>embalm the corpse wants standed up in a dress shop

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<v Speaker 1>window for ninety years and it would look like that.

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<v Speaker 1>It just wouldn't. So, Yes, if you're a professional or balmer,

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<v Speaker 1>you're like, this is not a corpse. It's just not

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<v Speaker 1>a corpse. Yeah, much less change the clothes on this thing, right,

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<v Speaker 1>I mean I didn't. I didn't find any information on that.

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<v Speaker 1>But unless she's wearing the bridal dress from the nineteen thirties,

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<v Speaker 1>is that true? I found um that there's so she

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<v Speaker 1>supposedly has vericoast veins in her legs. I'd try to

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<v Speaker 1>find a picture of that, but I couldn't find one. Okay,

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<v Speaker 1>here's why, because that piece of information that's bandied about

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<v Speaker 1>is evidence that she's actually not TRPs came from I

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<v Speaker 1>don't know if it's true or not, but it's It

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<v Speaker 1>really fits into the idea of an urban legend where

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<v Speaker 1>a woman unnamed who supposedly worked in the dress shop

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<v Speaker 1>when who knows and was responsible for changing law. Pascuelita

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<v Speaker 1>is the one who said that she had vericoast veins.

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<v Speaker 1>That woman might not exist either, right, So again, and

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<v Speaker 1>we're just following the steps of a great urban legend

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<v Speaker 1>where it just over time, somebody said it, it it became

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<v Speaker 1>a really interesting thing. It's way more interesting than that's

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<v Speaker 1>a really strange mannequin that they've had since the nineteen thirties.

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<v Speaker 1>And the dress shop itself is like, no, we're not

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<v Speaker 1>going to We're not going to rebuke this or dispute it,

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<v Speaker 1>like it's great. It brings people to our bridal shop. Yeah,

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<v Speaker 1>did they ask a lady when she said and she

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<v Speaker 1>also has vericos veins. I've seen them where they like,

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<v Speaker 1>is that a bluepin in your front pocket? What pocket? Apparently, also,

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<v Speaker 1>there was another thing that's frequently said, like, oh well,

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<v Speaker 1>this is great evidence too, that the owner requires that

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<v Speaker 1>La Pascualita be changed from dress to dress behind a

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<v Speaker 1>drawn curtain. Well, sure, so if she were a mannequin,

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<v Speaker 1>why would you care? Right? But there is one question

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<v Speaker 1>I have, Chuck, that I find fascinating. Nowhere on the internet,

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<v Speaker 1>is there even a suggestion of the manufacturer of that mannequin?

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<v Speaker 1>Oh right, or mention of any other mannequins that have

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<v Speaker 1>hands like that. Nobody's stepped up and been like, look,

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<v Speaker 1>she comes from the line of crazy hands from you know,

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<v Speaker 1>Nerveco that made mannequins back in the thirties. There's nothing

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<v Speaker 1>like that. Yea, So I really do wonder who made

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<v Speaker 1>that mannequin. It's it's really interesting, and I think that too,

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<v Speaker 1>is helping keep things going. Maybe it was Vincent Price.

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<v Speaker 1>It could have been very creepy. Look at those hands, everybody.

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<v Speaker 1>I'm telling you, I think to make it even more creepy,

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<v Speaker 1>we should just sit here in silence for thirty seconds

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<v Speaker 1>before we finish. Really all right, I guess we're doing this.

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<v Speaker 1>I'm gonna say short Stuff's out, and then I'm just

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<v Speaker 1>gonna sit here. Short Stuff's out. Stuff you Should Know

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