San Diego has an interesting history with mascots. In 1886 Bum the Dog, a St. Bernard-Spaniel mix became famous for stowing away in a steamship heading from San Francisco to San Diego. The dog was so popular here, it became the official town dog. A bronze statue was made and sits in the Gaslamp Quarter.

The Padres Swinging Friar actually made some appearances in the late 50s, when the team was in the Pacific Coast League.

It’s not just sports teams that have mascots. Companies have them; Disneyland, Chuck E. Cheese, cereals, and pizza. Remember Domino’s had the Noid? Locally, Dr. Seuss Enterprises has a mascot. Who else? The Cat in the Hat.

Public service announcements have used mascots. Remember McGruff the Crime Dog and Smokey Bear?

Bands that use mascots make it easier if they’re having trouble coming up with an album cover. There’s Milo for The Descendants, Snaggletooth for Motorhead, Lou Dog for Sublime, and Eddie for Iron Maiden. That creepy guy helped the metal band sell more T-shirts than any band in history.

Mascots have created controversy, too. When Camel Cigarettes came up with Joe Camel, people were furious, thinking this was an attempt to appeal to younger smokers. For some reason, Hamm’s Beer never had to deal with the bad press Camel did, and they always had the Hamm’s Beer Bear in commercials frolicking around.

Closer to home, a controversy that became national news, involved San Diego State University. For years their muscular Monty Montezuma thrilled fans as he ran through the stands pepping up the crowd at Aztec games. A few groups started protesting, claiming that it was racially insensitive. In 2001, SDSU dropped Monty, and eventually brought in a new mascot. There were still people that complained. Earlier this week, the Aztecs added a second mascot for the first time in history.

Mascots that aren’t even around yet have managed to create controversy. A few weeks ago, Iran threatened to boycott the 2012 Olympics in London because the logo created they felt resembled the word “Zion” (a biblical term for Jerusalem). Nobody likes the logo, but mostly because it’s just bulky and unappealing. You have to squint your eyes and use your imagination to see “Zion” in it.

But enough about logos, and back to San Diego mascots.

In 1974, rock station 101 KGB FM went to SDSU looking for a college student that would wear a rented chicken suit to hand out Easter eggs at the Zoo. When the representative asked a small group of students in a hallway, one said “Yeah, sure.” That was Ted Giannoulas.

After a week doing that for $2 an hour, he volunteered to show up at Padres games. His motivation was simple – free baseball tickets. I asked the longest running KGB DJ I know – former 25-year jock Jim McInnes – if he was around during the Chicken’s start. “I was, indeed, the Chicken's contemporary,” the 760 KFMB news anchor and Troubadour columnist told me. “I remember that he was making about $2.50/hr in 1974, while pulling double duty. Not only did he dress in the chicken suit, he also dressed in a frog suit (as Kermit, the mascot for KGB-AM's morning show, Huckleberry and his Friends.) It was while dressed as the frog, Ted became the world record holder for go-cart endurance at the old Miramar Speedway. I believe he rode the thing for more than 24 hours. Once he became rich and famous, he bought his mom a house and relocated her from Canada to S.D. Yes, the chicken is a Canuck!”

That was news to me. Checking the Chicken’s website, he does list himself as “an immigrant from London, Ontario, Canada.” The Chicken was so good at pratfalls, physical comedy, and ad-libbing bits on the spot, the gig lasted five years. And not just for sports teams, but showing up at all the big rock concerts. When Elvis Presley saw him at the Sports Arena in 1976, he started laughing and said that the Colonel could probably find use for him (he meant his manager Colonel Parker, not Colonel Sanders).

The Chicken also got $40,000 for one night of work. That was in 1979, when he hatched out of a 10-foot egg. What happened was KGB sued him when he wanted to branch out on his own in the chicken costume. The California Supreme Court ruled in his favor, and the free bird made that egg-hatching appearance in front of almost 50,000 fans at the Padres game. Media from all over the country were covering the story. It made the front page here. Sporting News named him one of the Top 100 Most Powerful People in Sports of the 20th Century. That was a list that had Babe Ruth, Jesse Owens, and Ali. Time Magazine said “More than anything else, baseball should learn to peddle the real nostalgia. Jackie Robinson breaking the color barrier, Lou Gehrig’s farewell speech, and the first appearance of the San Diego Chicken.”

The Chicken entertained sports fans here for a long time, before flying the coop and hitting other cities, doing 275 appearances a year. He performed for three Presidents, and made an appearance in the San Diego movie Attack of the Killer Tomatoes. They even put him on baseball cards You can still see the Chicken on occasion, but he’s scaled down his appearances. And he hasn’t been the San Diego Chicken in a long time (now it’s The Famous Chicken).

And with Lady Gaga breaking out of an egg at the Grammys – perhaps now is the perfect time for San Diego to hatch the next big mascot.

[Have an idea for the next San Diego mascot? Submit your idea to http://sandiego.com/mascot for a chance to pick the new San Diego Mascot and win $5,000!]