Before “influencer” was a job title, there was Betty Lane Cherry — Miss USA, runner-up for Miss World, and “Miss Fruit Salad,” as she was dubbed on national TV. A fitting nickname for a person with the last name of Cherry from Orangeburg, who’s pushing peaches.
A Columbia College grad, Cherry spent years representing the South Carolina Peach Council across the Northeast and later served as Peach Queen for the National Peach Council, promoting peaches nationwide through interviews, events, and media campaigns. She even appeared on South Carolina roadmaps and postcards that dubbed the Palmetto State as “The Real Peach State.” Her tour included stops on shows like The Don McNeill Breakfast Club — where her “Miss Fruit Salad” nickname was born — and The Today Show, where she famously kept her composure when the show’s chimpanzee crawled on her to grab a ripe peach.
Cherry’s travels weren’t just a Peach Queen’s victory lap — they coincided with one of the largest coordinated peach advertising campaigns of the time. Backed by national brands like Kellogg and General Mills, the effort aimed to make America “peach-conscious,” moving record crops and positioning Southern peaches as a staple from small-town markets to big-city stores.
Meanwhile, in South Carolina, the fruit Cherry championed was well on its way to becoming central to the state’s identity. By the mid-20th century, peach farms were expanding rapidly, as advances like refrigerated rail cars and cold storage opened new markets far beyond the South.
Today, peach farming still supports thousands across the state and brings in over $80 million annually. And while “The Tastier Peach State” hasn’t yet made it onto a license plate, the legacy of those farmers — and one tireless peach queen — still bears fruit.
