I was born/raised in Madison.
There is only one Madison. (If you have to ask …)
There was only one Snowball.
While growing up in Yakima, Washington, Bob Ivers was a superstar. Here’s Bob appearing in three commercials in a row! Here’s Bob making announcements about our fair and air show! All this for being a second banana in a number of Elvis movies and the John Forsythe sitcom “Bachelor Father”.
In the Seattle area, the late seafood chain owner Ivar Haglund (best known for the slogan "Keep Clam!) and kiddie show host JP Patches (who actually got his own statue in Seattle recently) are iconic figures.
Actually some of the figures mentioned aren’t as local as you think. The “Crazy Eddie” guy I remember from when WOR was on local cable systems, and Beatle Bob actually was the subject of a Blender article a few months ago.
Another Baltimore name, an oldie from the 80s: weatherman Bob Turk. His theme song was “My Girl,” only with his name sung instead of those words.
In the summer of '88 I was at a leadership camp for Catholic high school students in the Archdiocese of Baltimore, and one time when all of us were hanging out in one of the big rooms that song came on the radio (or something). Spontaneously, at the chorus, nearly everyone in the room sang “Bob Turk!” – and then we all laughed our asses off. 
The only ones who didn’t get it were two guys from Texas (I no longer remember why they were in Baltimore).
A lot of people in DC do, too, thanks to Elliot in the Morning. 
Am I crazy or does San Fran hold the title for North American eccentrics?
I live out in the middle of nowhere, where everybody knows everybody anyway, but here our local celebrity would be “American Idol Troy,” a guy who describes himself as “urban Amish.” He’s one of those people who made it on the show to be mocked for being weird and bad, but in his case it wasn’t an attention getting schtick to get on TV. He really does wander around dressed like an Amish man, despite not, in fact, being Amish.
Nearly everyone in Michigan knows Karen Newman, who sings the Starspangled Banner before every Detroit Red Wings Game. This is her at a recent game: http://youtube.com/watch?v=jjb9aT93wMk
Love, Phil
Yes, I know the name of the song is The Star Spangled Banner. Ms Newman also does a mean O, Canada. Ms Newman gave birth a while back; she didn’t go into retirement during her pregnancy, though. If memory (my husband, the Red Wings fan) serves, she didn’t miss a single game. What a fan!
Love, Phil
If you are a certain age and grew up in the DC area, you know Captain 20 and Count Gore De Vol (same guy different costume). The Count was very much like Count Floyd from SCTV.
Heh. I’m going to a Brass Menažeri gig at 12 Galaxies later this month – to tell the truth the Frank Chu connection had totally slipped by me.
Other current San Francisco icons are the Twins (Marian and Vivian Brown) and the “World Famous Bushman” at Fisherman’s Wharf.
Of course, they all pale next to that great San Francisco archetype of the 19th century, Emperor Norton.
Any east coast Deadheads remember the disco truck?
It was (generally) this big-assed Ryder truck with a fantastically decked-out stereo system in it playing some out-of-this-world funk/disco combination. After a show, when the parking lot is filled with a hundred thousand or so milling Deadheads, you’d stumble across the disco truck, with hundreds of crazy ‘heads bopping along to some fantastic beats. What about Spaghetti Eddie? The Flag Bus? Man I miss the friends I’d see tour after tour…
Crazy Eddie should have been given amnesty for his tax foibles, if only for giving the Tri-State region such an icon (either that or let off due to, well, insanity). He was parodied in such institutions as Mad Magazine and SNL just to name two. A giant.
Anyone know if Bob’s Discount Furniture is still growing (and growing…)
DC area Dopers – what about the Hymn-singing Korean (?) that would get on for one station and belt out these beautifully-sung hymns? I’m not religious, but he really added a touch of beauty to the morning commute. There’s also the 365 protestor at the WH, the sign woman, and several other institutions to bring visiting guests.
Lastly, any northeastern Dopers remember Willie Whistle? Crazy-Assed Clown was BEYOND annoying, made me come close to putting a shoe through the television, but man could he spin some great cartoons.
All good ones, I would add Joe Edwards, who has been the driving force for turning University City into a thriving urban community.
…
CLEVELAND: An aquatence from Pittsburgh is in town visiting. She, plus several of us native Clevelanders sit down to watch some TV. We tune into the Big Chuck and Little John show. Everything is seemingly going along fine - the ohioans are all laughing along to the show (Ha Haaaaaa!). Then about five minutes into the show the out-of-towner stands up, looks at us in bemused horror and yells “What IS this? What is WRONG with you people?!”
Back in my hometown there’s local named Cheluco, who is supposed to be very well endowed. I say supposed to be because the man is 90 something years old by now, and I doubt he gets much opportunity to display his gifts.
Anyway, he is a local legend, and his name is used as adjective to describe anything that’s very big, or in general swearing, as in “¡Me cago en la pinga de Cheluco!” (I shit on Cheluco’s dick! :eek: ). Naturaly no one outside of my hometown knows what the heck we’re talking about.
Most people in the Toronto area are all too familiar with Russell Oliver (aka The Cashman… Ooooh YEAH!). He has some pretty awful commercials on local TV.
We also have the world’s strangest/scariest Santa Claus impersonator… Zanta.
Indianapolis:
Gorgeous George-- pro wrestler back in the 60s and 70s, before local circuits began going national. He did a lot of local commercials.
The Watkins Spa girl-- the daughter (-in-law?) of the guy who owns Watkins Spas; a voluptuous, round-faced girl who would appear at some point during Watkins commercials wearing something skimpy, saying “You need a spa!” or “You need a pool table!” She was a bit perky for my taste, but she was just right for a lot of folks around here.
Sammy Terry, Cowboy Bob, and Janie-- show hosts when channel 4 was the weird-as-hell local station (like Weird Al’s UHF station in the movie). Sammy Terry was the corpse-like midnight B-movie horror show host, and he still makes popular visits at stores and concerts nearly 20 years after his show was cancelled. Cowboy Bob was a morning kiddie-show host (with Sourdough, the Singing Biscuit) who played Hanna-Barbera shorts. Janie was a perky schoolteacher-like kid-show host who got her upper-middle-class wardrobe and bouffant hair done by local department store chains.
And, not a person, but we have a chicken limo. There’s been a chicken limo ever since I was a kid, and I have no idea if other cities have such things, but… it’s a big limo with a giant fiberglass chicken on top. It’s for rent, and rent it people do-- for proms, weddings, nights on the town. Every once in a while, you’ll go somewhere. A nice date, a trip out dancing. And then you’ll see it. The chicken limo, idling in a line of limos in front of a hotel, or pulling out of a sports arena.
I thought of 2 more: few people outside northern New Jersey have heard of the Jackson-Whites. I doubt many who live more than 50 miles from NYC or Philadelphia know who’s being referred to by pineys.
Both these are pejoratives, I guess, but these are the terms I heard growing up.
Most people in Chicago know who Ronnie Woo Woo is, unless you absolutely do not follow any baseball.
Dude, I’d forgotten all about Captain 20! Thanks for the flashback! 
Here in Montgomery we have Sammy Stephens. No one knows the name but they recognize his face and his ads…
“It’s just like, it’s just like, it’s just like…a mini…mall!!!”
Ironically, despite his popularity, his store is going bankrupt. People come by to see him and get his autograph but no one buys anything!