The peach is more than just fruit that some Southern states grow. From cocktails that high society favors to hit songs, here are six examples of pop culture peaches, gathered in time for National Peach Day on Aug. 27.
The peach emoji: Fruit or body part?
It’s hard to believe that just a little over a decade ago people weren’t using emojis regularly when texting. Enter the peach emoji and suddenly it was more than just about a fruit. Apple, the company, found itself in hot water for creating an emoji that looked like a rear end.
By 2016, Apple redesigned the emoji to look less like a butt and more like an apricot and Buzzfeed readers were not having it. Then, about a year later, the original design was back and American society had moved on. Now, it’s not unheard of for Peloton instructors to talk about how difficult a lower-body exercise class is going to be by saying, “Fire emoji plus peach emoji,” and everyone knows how sore they’re going to be afterward.
Peach perfect sips
One of the famous peach cocktails is the peach Bellini — capitalized because it is named for the 15th-century Venetian painter Giovanni Bellini. The drink’s creator, Giuseppe Cipriani, said the peach color of the drink, which he first concocted at Harry’s Bar in Venice, Italy, in 1931, reminded him of Bellini’s paintings.
The drink, made with prosecco, an Italian sparkling wine, quickly attained iconic status when long-ago celebrities like Ernest Hemingway, Orson Welles and Truman Capote flocked to Harry’s. These days stars like George Clooney have been known to enjoy a peach Bellini at Hotel Cipriani, also in Venice.
The peach Bellini is hardly the only alcoholic drink with a peach flavor. There is peach schnapps, a main ingredient in the Fuzzy Navel cocktail. In 2023, Busch Light introduced a limited edition peach-flavored beer. It was so well received that it became available nationwide in 2024. And, coming full circle, one of the most popular flavors of Seagram’s Escapes, a malt-based alcoholic drink, is the peach Bellini.
Don’t drink alcohol? Well, there’s always peach-flavored iced tea. One of the popular brands is Snapple, a sweet tea that rose to fame in the late 20th century. According to Snapple, peach iced tea is the number one flavor in most places in the United States. It even gets a pop culture moment in the cult favorite TV show, “The Office.” That’s when Steve Carrell’s character Michael Scott notices a colleague choosing peach iced tea from a vending machine. “Peach iced tea,” Scott says. “You’re gonna hate it.” But how wrong Michael Scott was.
Peaches on the big and little screen
Speaking of peach moments in pop culture TV, who can forget the iconic Peach Pit retro diner, where the cast of Gen X favorite “Beverly Hills, 90210” hung out on screen. “Beverly Hills, 90210” started in 1990 and ran for 10 seasons. Sadly, that show was back in the news recently, when actress Shannen Doherty died.
Then there is Princess Peach, Mario’s love interest in the Nintendo video game series Super Mario Brothers. She was a featured character in the 2023 motion picture version of the game, called “The Super Mario Bros. Movie.”
Also, there is Roald Dahl’s classic book “James and the Giant Peach.” In 1996, the peach story came to the big screen as a Tim Burton-produced animated film.
Finally, you’re probably familiar with the phrase “There’s no crying in baseball,” which Tom Hanks’ character uttered in the 1992 Penny Marshall movie “A League of Their Own.” What does it have to do with peaches? Hanks’ character managed the Rockford Peaches, based on a real team from Rockford, Illinois, that was part of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League, which ran from 1943 to 1954. The Rockford Area Convention & Visitors Bureau in Illinois even has a trail you can follow to discover moments from the Peaches’ history.
The Georgia Peach
The phrase The Georgia Peach carries several connotations. Most commonly, Georgia is known as The Peach State. At one time it might have been the biggest peach producer. However, the U.S. Department of Agriculture reports that California and South Carolina produced more peaches than Georgia in 2022, the last year that statistics are available.
One of the greatest players in baseball history was Ty Cobb. His nickname was The Georgia Peach. Though he hailed from Georgia, he spent most of his career playing for the Detroit Tigers in Michigan.
Also, saying someone is a Georgia peach indicates that they have Southern charm. Rue McClanahan’s character Blanche Devereaux on the TV series “The Golden Girls” was forever referring to herself as one. But was she, really?
The juicy history of peaches in art
Visit an art museum and you’re bound to see plenty of fruits in still life portraits. While grapes and apples tend to appear in many classic paintings, the peach has had a starring role, too.
For instance, when not painting Campbell’s soup cans, artist Andy Warhol did a series of lithographs featuring peaches in psychedelic colors. Other masters have brought peaches to life on the canvas, too, including Claude Monet, Paul Cezanne and Edouard Manet. The latter’s painting “Still Life with Melon and Peaches” currently hangs in the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC.
Songs about peaches
When it comes to songs about peaches, you don’t have to dig deep into the recording vaults to find them. Pop superstar Justin Bieber had a 2021 hit with his song “Peaches.” And 1970s rock group The Steve Miller Band had a song called “The Joker.” The lyrics included “I really love your peaches, wanna shake your tree,” which, in hindsight, probably wasn’t about fruit at all. Plus, here’s something to remember for trivia night: In 1995, the alternative band The Presidents of the United States had a Billboard Hot 100 hit called “Peaches.”
Final thoughts
Now that you’ve brushed up on your peach pop culture, how will you celebrate when National Peach Day rolls around? You’ve got lots of options, ranging from sipping a peach beverage to rewatching classic TV shows to even sending texts featuring the peach emoji.
Some of the recipes that Leah Ingram shares on her food blog Bagels and Lasagna feature peaches.