Upon first glance a receipt for a couple of magnets from a defunct houseware shop doesn’t seem at all significant; but just like everything else from 9/11, it holds a story of another life which was impacted by the tragedy.
Now all of us will most likely have a good idea of what happened on the fateful morning in New York.
It’s fair to say that most of us have a good understanding of what happened on 11 September, 2001, through watching countless documentaries, films and TV series over the years.
The 9/11 attacks changed US and global history forever (HENNY RAY ABRAMS/AFP via Getty Images)
However, this doesn’t really do it justice when it comes to depicting the sheer confusion on the ground back in 2001, which is what makes first-hand accounts of New Yorkers on the ground feel all the more terrifying.
This includes the above receipt, which reveals the final items ever purchased inside the sprawling office blocks.
Seeing a receipt from 9/11 alone is strange enough, but the image becomes a lot more chilling when you notice the time in which the two magnets were purchased at 8:55am — nine minutes after the plane smashed into the North Tower.
Now in retrospect, you’d imagine everyone inside said tower would evacuate if they could, right?
Well not exactly, as several first person accounts have revealed how the severity of the situation wasn’t initially clear to everyone – both in and outside of the building.
Alongside the multiple companies who had offices in the tower, there was also a Lechters shop, where Wall Street journalist Joanne Lipman was purchasing two fridge magnets for her daughter’s birthday.
By time Lipman had made her way to the till with the magnets, there was already a commotion in the tower, however, she wasn’t aware that a plane had struck the building and pressed the cashier to ring up the purchase before leaving.
The moment was detailed in Dean Rotbart’s book September Twelfth: An American Comeback Story which detailed how staff at WSJ responded to the attacks, which happened opposite their office.
“Before work on the morning of September 11, Lipman was browsing the aisles of the Lechters Housewares store located on the concourse of the World Trade Center.” wrote Rotbart (via PR Newswire).
After selecting the magnets, she noticed people being rushed through in the building’s corridors, with even the cashier seemingly anxious to leave.
This didn’t deter Lipman, who at the time, was used to commotion in the city. She replied: “Ring this up first. I’m not leaving until I pay.”
Lipman handed the cashier $20 in cash for the purchase, collected her change of $9.17 and receipt, before stepping back out into a completely different world.
