Frequent Questions
1. Handy Ande... why such a goofy name?
"Handy
Andy" spelled with a Y at the end, was also the name of a
1934 film starring the legendary wit, philosopher, actor,
columnist, author, radio commentator, and eternal
student,
Will "I
never met a man I didn't like,"
Rogers.
My father often quoted Will Rogers, who said, "Live your
life so that whenever you lose, you're ahead." In the
movie Will's character is hard-working and hen-pecked,
but he rebels and eventually, of course, Will as Andy
sets everything right for everybody. (Not unlike Handy
Ande.)
I
changed the Y on Andy to an E, because that was how I
spelled my name - Ande - from the age of 12 to 22 when I
completed my academic education. Aside: My two best
friends were Betty and Marty and I decided on the nickname
to match theirs. When we three knew we could be leading
lives in different places after high school graduation we
had 3 silver charms made with BAM (for Betty Ande Marty) on
one side and mine has an A on the reverse.
I wanted a memorable name
and remembered how Kinko's, the photocopying business was
named for its founder. His friends called him "Kinko"
because of his hair texture. My nickname was
"Handy
Ande"
because I took
on "domestic" responsibilities from an early age: child
care, food preparation, furniture repair and refinishing,
clothing construction, etc. In college I was also called
"Miss Domestic" which led me to transfer to Kent State
University so I could get a degree in Family and Consumer
Sciences (Home Economics). I didn't think Miss Domestic
would make a good company name.
Would you have thought a career placement company would
call itself Monster, or a search tool would call itself
Google? It didn't stop them or Kinko's from becoming a
large and popular organization. One can always change the
name in the future, but Handy Ande seems to have caught on.
If you have a better idea... please send it along.
Email HandyAnde
