Miller High Life Beer

Illustration of a woman in a red blue and yellow dress wearing a large red and yellow hat and holding a drink while sitting on a yellow moon with yellow stars and text on a dark blue background

Miller High Life Beer is a creation of Frederick Miller. Miller had been a brewer in Germany and brought that passion to Milwaukee in the late nineteenth century. Miller High Life was created by combining local hops and barley with yeast from the “old country.” The beer was distributed starting in 1903 and quickly earned the nickname “The Champagne of Bottle Beer.” The nickname for the beer most likely comes from its high level of carbonation, the unique shape of the bottle (tapered neck like a champagne bottle), and the fact that the bottle was clear with a gold label.

The Miller High Life Girl on the Moon came out very shortly after the beer was introduced. The original depiction was of a girl in a circus-like costume, complete with whip and tall hat, standing on a High Life crate. In 1907, the girl was removed from the crate and was sat, instead, on a crescent moon. Supposedly, the girl came about because of a vision that one of the advertising managers had while he was lost in the Wisconsin Northwood. The Girl in the Moon was removed in 1944 to cut back advertising expenses. However, she returned in 1998 and has remained on the product ever since.