They were originally created as a substitute for the far more expensive porcelain dolls and maintained popularity until the second half of the 20th century, with its availability of plastic dolls. This technique has been used to make a number of crafts up to this day, most notably to make alebrijes and skeletal and other figures for Day of the Dead.
When the five pieces are dry, holes are bored into them in order to connect the arms and legs. The two arms are connected to the body with a single cord that extends from one upper arm, through the torso, to the other upper arm, with knots visible on the upper arms. The legs are attached similarly.
This allows the arms and legs to be moved from the shoulders and hips respectively. Traditional Lupitas are painted in various flesh tones and with other colors to simulate clothing or underwear. On traditional dolls, flower designs of Otomi origin are also painted. Those painted with underwear are then dressed in some kind of costume. These dolls were often played with along with toy chairs and tables along with play dishes. They are still often displayed sitting on a miniature chair.
The dolls remained popular until the era of commercial plastic dolls. One of these is that a wife who feels that her husband is cheating on her would buy one of these dolls and write the name of his supposed mistress to let him know that she knew. Another story says that they were used in the past to advertise brothels in Mexico City with each doll representing a prostitute.
The dolls in the windows indicated which women were available. However, since the second half of the 20th century, the dolls have lost popularity.
