Carmex® lip balm was invented in 1937 by Alfred Woelbing, literally on the family stovetop. For the next 20 years, Alfred and his wife made Carmex by hand and poured it into the familiar yellow-capped jars.

Eventually production moved out of the Woelbing home and into a rented facility in Wauwatosa, Wisconsin, where it remained until the move in 1975 to its current site in Franklin, Wisconsin.

Carma Labs employs about 100 people and is still owned and operated by the family: Alfred's grandsons Eric and Paul Woelbing. The Woelbing stove is now used for cooking things the family can actually eat.