It’s a Postcard, But it’s Also One of My Most Prized Possessions

I always get into a reflective mood as the calendar approaches September 11, but even more so this year because I found a postcard that I bought when I was a kid. At that moment in time, the World Trade Center was the center of the universe.

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My dad loved King Kong, the original movie came out in 1933, shortly before he was born. The movie fascinated him, and he became a lifelong fan through all the remakes. We both loved King Kong 1976. , where Kong is again brought to New York City, but this time escapes to the top of the World Trade Center, instead of the Empire State Building. Bigger and better, like Kong. The World Trade Center had only been around for a few years in 1976, it had opened only 3 years prior on April 4, 1973. What a spectacle it was, a human achievement that you could see from 30 miles away.

in 2023, when I think of the World Trade Center, I think Never Forget. I'll never forget standing on the observation deck of those incredible buildings, imagining that Snake Plissken's glider had landed right there, or Kong took out the chopper in that corner. Seeing as far as I've ever seen. The kind of views that people paid money to see. The World Trade Center was incredible.

I bought that postcard on a trip in with my family. The photos I could find from it were of the Statue of Liberty, but I remember wandering off in Battery Park, craning my neck skyward to see either of the Twin Towers.

22 years this year. The photos that I have of them, and that postcard, are some of my most prized possessions.