A receipt is believed to document the final purchase in the World Trade Center before the Twin Towers were destroyed.
On September 11, 2001—23 years ago yesterday—four coordinated terrorist attacks were executed by the Islamist extremist group al-Qaeda. These attacks involved two planes crashing into the North and South Towers of the World Trade Center in New York, a third plane crashing into the Pentagon, and a fourth into a field in western Pennsylvania.
Just nine minutes after the first plane struck, a purchase was made within the trade center.
The first plane, Flight 11, reportedly hit between floors 93 and 99 of the North Tower’s north face at 8:46 am.
A receipt later surfaced, generated from one of the shops in the World Trade Center, time-stamped at 8:55 am—nine minutes after the initial attack.
The receipt’s story was described by author and Wall Street Journal writer Dean Rotbart in his book “September Twelfth,” which details the experiences of those working in the Wall Street Journal headquarters directly across the street from the World Trade Center on that day.
Rotbart explains that Joanne Lipman, then a senior editor at The Wall Street Journal, went to the Lechters Housewares store located on the concourse of the World Trade Center on the morning of September 11. She intended to buy her sixth-grade daughter, Rebecca Distler, a gift for turning 11 and starting at a new school.
Rebecca had requested ‘refrigerator magnets for her locker’ at her new school, according to Rotbart.
“When [Lipman] spotted a violin-shaped magnet, she knew it would be perfect for Rebecca. The novelty had a button in the middle that, when pushed, played a little tune. Lipman pressed it idly while waiting to check out.
“For good measure, Lipman also grabbed a magnet in the shape of a flip mobile phone,” he continues, as quoted by PR Newswire.
However, as she waited to pay, Lipman reportedly heard a ‘commotion’ and saw security ushering people out of the building, with some beginning to run.
The cashier suggested they should ‘get out of there,’ but determined to purchase the magnets for her daughter’s birthday, Lipman pushed to pay for them. The receipt showed the two magnets came to a total of $10.83.
She paid with a $20 note and received $9.17 in change along with the receipt, which she reportedly still keeps today.
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