god dammit, i tried to post this last night and METALGAYGES was down!!!
my college roommate, who was from the wintry northern reaches of Aroostok County, told me that back in the day, Maine lumberjacks used to wear thermal union suits all winter long. and in the spring, the hair on their bodies/legs/etc would have grown through/into the underwear, and so they'd have it pretty much permanently fused to their skin. so they had to remove it each spring verrryyy carefully so as not to pull off skin!