[ I asked Ed if he could help with the etymology of "honky-tonk." ]

Why don't you ever give me an easy one?  I know -- you don't need help on
the easy ones.

I don't have an answer from personal knowledge or research, so I checked
the Oxford English Dictionary (in which I've found many errors, such as
"ofay", which it traces back only to 1921).

Honky-tonk -- Feb 24, 1894, Oklahoma: "The honk-a-tonk last night was
well attended by ball-heads, bachelors and leading citizens."
("ball-heads"?!)

Honky-tonk -- Sept 1924, Etude magazine: "These dance resorts were known
as 'Honky-Tonks' -- a name which itself suggests some of the rhythms of
jazz."  (Since Etude was a very stuffy magazine, I doubt anything I read
in it about jazz.)

Barrel-house -- 1883, _Peck's Bad Boy_: "After I had put a few things
in his brandy he concluded it was cheaper to buy it and he is now
patronizing a barrel-house."

Ed Berlin