The All American Red Heads were the first professional women's basketball team. In 1936, almost 50 years after women's basketball began, C. M. "Ole" Olson started a barnstorming team which would play around the country until 1986. The name of the team came from Olson's wife, who owned a number of beauty salons in the south. They played by men's rules and were a smash success with the audience. They were so successful as an exhibition team that they fostered two other teams, the Ozark Hillbillies and the Famous Red Heads.