The Red Hat Gang

Years ago my mother and her friends used to go to a tea house in an old home in downtown Stuart, Florida for lunch once in a great while.  The photograph above shows (from left to right) my mother Mary, her neighbor Dorothy (the only one one still living, by the way), my mother's next door neighbor Elaine, and her upstairs neighbor Jane.  My mother told me that sometimes when they went there, it would be filled with older ladies wearing red hats.  I do not know much about this group, but I believe they are called the Red Hat Gang, and I imagine they must do things like knock over liquor stores to obtain money for food.  I also believe they are a national organization, and not just a Stuart, Florida phenomena.  And as always, if I have gotten any little detail wrong, please let me know.