According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the earliest recorded use of the word “honky-tonk” dates to 1899, in the Fort Worth Daily Gazette. “A petition to the council is being circulated for signatures, asking that the Honky Tonk theater on Main Street be reopened,” read the Texas newspaper. From its first appearance in print, the honky-tonk was already under threat of closure. It’s possible that the theater on Main Street was a different kind of establishment, but the term is now universally used to describe a roadside bar where country music can be heard, either played by musicians or on