Born January 15, 1891 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Joseph Handlos entered the labor market in 1905 as an apprentice operating engineer for the Milwaukee Electric Railway and Light Company. In 1908 he moved to State Line (later Land O' Lakes), Wisconsin, where he was employed as a millwright, resort guide, and construction worker. In 1917, he enlisted in the Army and served in Europe during World War I.
Returning to Land O' Lakes in 1920, Handlos became interested in civic affairs and succeeded in winning election as Town Assessor in 1923 and Town Chairman in 1925. He was also a member of the Vilas County Board and served as its chairman, 1931-1933. However, most of his energies were channeled into private citizens' groups, including the Vilas County Taxpayers League, the Wisconsin Citizens Public Expenditure Survey, and the U.S. Highway 45 Association.
The U.S. Highway Association claimed the major part of Handlos' attention. Formed in the late 1920's under the leadership of Walter Olen, president of the Four Wheel Drive Company, Clintonville, Wisconsin, the group was known as the Highway 26 Club until 1934. Membership was composed of people in cities from Hortonville to Pelican Lake who were interested in the improvement of Highway 26, a major tourist route to northern Wisconsin and Michigan's resort country. Handlos became president of the group in 1929 and held that office for more than thirty years. The group's activities consisted mainly of lobbying with the Wisconsin Legislature and with other citizens for highway improvement and for non-diversion of highway funds.
A heart attack in 1964 forced Handlos to decrease his civic activities. At this writing (1972) he is retired, spending the summers at his home in Land O' Lakes and the winters in Florida.
