Ferndale Laboratories makes prescription and over the counter medications, with a primary focus on skin care maladies, including acne, dry skin, eczema, psoriasis, and inflammation. The company also makes topical pain relief creams, surgical adhesives and adhesive removers, and decongestants. Ferndale Laboratories markets its products to physicians and consumers. Ferndale company originally began selling vitamins, tonics, elixirs, and surgical instruments. It was founded in Detroit in 1897 as J. F. Hartz Company, the name it operated under until the mid-1950s when it changed its name to Ferndale Laboratories.