Daily Photograph: Chicago Hot Dog sign in Bucktown

Hot dogs? When I was growing up, that meant made-in-Madison Oscar Mayer hot dogs on a soft bun with a little bit of bright yellow French's mustard – except on Tuesdays.

Tuesdays were half-price Coney dog day at local A&W Root Beer stands. Coney dogs were Oscar Mayer hot dogs with chili and onions.

Oscar Mayer hot dogs usually came in packages of 10 wrapped with a bright yellow band. Even when you bought them in bulk at the local butcher, Oscar Mayer hot dogs sported bright yellow bands.

Back in the good old days, when the company was still family-owned, hot dogs were hot dogs. I always assumed they were made of beef, though perhaps they contained pork, too. Today, the Kraft Foods-owned company makes a staggering variety of hot dogs (Light! Fat Free! The Cheesiest!) and many of them contain not only pork, but turkey – and sometimes chicken!

It's been ages since I've eaten a hot dog. Blame it on the friends from Sheboygan who introduced me to bratwurst. Blame it on the terrific brats (served on a not-so-soft roll) from Jacobson's and the old Brathaus on State Street.

Even though Chicago-style hot dogs are now available in Madison, I've never tried one. The idea of green relish and tomatoes on a hot dog does not appeal to me. Madison's former mayor, however, is an aficionado. His blog post about Chicago hot dogs drew more comments than many of his posts about local politics.

All of this hot dog history and lore was racing through my mind as I snapped this photograph of a hot dog sign near the intersection of Damen and North Avenue in Chicago's Bucktown neighborhood. I tried not to think about any aspects of the sign that might lead to sniggering. Instead, I contemplated whether the apparent absence of poppy seeds on the bun meant the sign depicted a poseur, a faux Chicago hot dog rather than the real thing.

It was cold outside. After I took a couple of photos, I was eager to put on my gloves. I didn't take time to haul out a pen and write down the name of the restaurant. I had something else to do: I walked a bit farther down the street and had lunch at Mindy's Hot Chocolate.