Sometimes it absolutely amazes me the little known facts I keep unearthing in the most unusual places. For instance, a few years back I was privileged to look though Doc Salley's photos he had taken of Warsaw residents and events and there was my second cousin once removed standing in a photo with the Redheaded girls basketball team. I had known her all my life and I had never known she had played ball for a real celebrity group.
That group of gals had come to Warsaw in 1951 to an exhibition game for some fundraiser and Doc Salley took the opportunity to snap a lot of pictures making shots on the court and then one of them as they were dressed and ready to leave town. How he managed to get their autographs on the photo, I do not know.
The cousin, Ruth Harms, was quite the athlete in Eldorado Springs, Missouri when she drew the attention of the scouts; the scouts for “The Redheads” that is. She was signed onto the team and toured with them in 1951 throughout the Midwest. The team was known as The All-American Redheads and performed much like the Harlem Globetrotters.
During the 1930's and 1940's, crowds gathered to watch women play. There was the AAU (Amateur Athletic Union) that consisted of teams sponsored by companies such as Dr. Pepper and Hanes Hosiery. Maybe that’s what gave the team’s founder the idea. “Ole” Olson enjoyed playing basketball and his wife, a successful beautician, had some female employees that also played basketball. Two of them happened to be redheads.
One evening, as a joke, the entire team colored their hair and they were the talk of the town in Cassville, Missouri where they all lived. They became known as the Cassville Redheads and then they shortened it to just The Redheads. This was in 1935 and their popularity grew fast. Later, when AAU players joined the team, they became known as the All-American Redheads.
Of course, the team owner didn’t spend his life looking for good ball players who were redheads. While some were natural redheads, most relied on chemical coloring. They used henna in the 1930's, 1940's, and 1950's, but switched to Ms. Clairol no 33-Flame Red in the 1960's. They always carried green towels on the road because that was the color left by the henna packs.
The Redheads were an instant success. They traveled across the country playing exhibition games against local talent. And when halftime came, the opposing team went to the locker room but these gals stayed on the court and entertained with masterful ball handling and trick shots. And when the other team returned all rested, they were beat anyway. Of course, if they sensed the crowd didn’t want their local team beat, they would throw the game.
These gals played by men’s rules against men’s teams, toured for over fifty years and won 85% of their games. Most importantly, they promoted and gained acceptance of women’s basketball today. Sexism had always kept women’s basketball on the back burner. The powers that be felt that the high level competition was dangerous to the physical and psychological health of a young woman. And in order to play the game at school, girls had to follow “girl’s rules,” which was six players, two of whom had to remain in the back court, with only two dribbles per player before a pass. There was no opportunity to develop as a player or to go on to bigger and better things. But women have finally made it into the spotlight and are playing professional sports for big bucks every year now.
Considering what The Redheads did to promote women’s basketball for so many years, I was glad to see them honored for their pioneering achievements in such places as the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame in Knoxville, Tennessee and at a Final Four in Kansas City, Missouri for their contribution to the game. Thanks to their accomplishments, girls today have uniforms and good shoes, serious coaches and their talents are being developed from junior high on up.
The Redheads long list of accomplishments includes playing in the Philippines in the beginning of WWII and almost getting stranded. They did most of Europe, Asia and all of America. They traveled to Hollywood for some promotional work with Henry Fonda, William Holden, Tyrone Power and Bing Crosby on the court.
In 1948, Olson hired a high school coach to manage the western team. By then, he had two teams playing at the same time. The new coach was Orwell Moore and he eventually bought the teams. Players slept in the car while the team traveled to it's next game but had to be awake and dressed, with hair and makeup done when they hit their next town. Other rules included no cursing, no drinking, no smoking in uniform and they had to remember they were standard bearers for femininity.
These were all good reasons why Great Aunt Ruby had no qualms in allowing her daughter, Ruth to play for the team. A family story told is that a male relative pointed out to Ruth’s mother that her daughter being a member of The Redheads was totally inappropriate; to which her mother, always known for her outspoken manner, quickly retorted: “You raise your daughter and I’ll raise mine”, Which promptly ended the subject.
Ruth signed with The Redheads straight out of high school in 1951 and toured with them throughout the Midwest. One of the outstanding players was “Red” Mason. She was not only an outstanding player but her antics added greatly to the teams appeal on the court. The team's most successful player was “Butch” Moore. She scored 35,426 points in eleven seasons. In February of 1951, Ruth Harms scored 85 points in a game (this was the 6-on-6 era and the last time I checked, the record was still standing.
Ruth only played one year and left the team to be married. She raised her family and as a grandmother she went to work in a “Boy’s Home” and every now and then would pick up a basketball. She could still show them a thing or two on the court, which often left some insolent little chap with his jaw agape in astonishment.
No matter where those former Redheads lives took them in later years, I’m sure they felt good to know they were a small part in paving the way in their barnstorming days.
