Many of these stories probably had their beginnings in some grain of truth. For example, the myth mentioned that the second leading cause of death among women was catching on fire. Clearly, that's not accurate, but there were cases of women whose clothing did catch on fire, causing death or injury. Satirical prints depicted such incidents, and between 1790 and 1800, for example, the London Times ran at least one or two stories on this subject.
   
  Michelle Hargrave
  The Bard Graduate Center for Studies in the Decorative Arts, Design, and Culture

David Lynx <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
    But, it was the firescreen's/women's makeup melting story that caught my attention. An online search finds numerous references to that story, but not as a myth. If that is indeed a myth, I would appreciate knowing more about how the myth evolved.

Not sure about the firescreen keeping the makeup from melting, but “mind your beeswax” supposively developed from beeswax makeup that would melt if you were too close to the fire.
-- 
Yakima Valley Museum
yakimavalleymuseum.org
509-248-0747
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