90/10?! I think your math is off.
Are you trying to tell me two identical, adjacent, 110-story towers are not instantly recognizable?
FTR, the WTC actually refers to the entire complex, 5 other buildings plus the two towers.
It’s more likely that people may not know what the WTC actually is, as far as the offices it housed and what they did there, but globally it was one of the most recognized symbols of capitalism which sadly made it a prime target.
I knew what it was, even before the 1993 attacks, which happened when I was nine. Of course, I was a dork who read the Golden Book Encyclopedia cover to cover, so that’s not really surprising. Honestly, I think most people had heard of it, but not hearing of it wasn’t especially unusual.
Also, Kevin went to the top of them in Home Alone 2. 
Certainly knew. Spent a day there taking photographs from the ground and the top of one of the towers, in about 1980. Understood it was a group of buildings including the two towers and a few others, and was a little familiar with the various scenes in news coverage of the bombing in the parking garage. Also saw a documentary. And took a nice photo of the towers looming behind the Brooklyn Bridge that a few people requested copies of. I think there’s a scene in Annie Hall that is similar (IIRC).
Another “of course” from me. I am 47 and had never been to NYC until two years ago, but it’s part of the landscape of the American mind. Also, I was 13 when the King Kong remake came out and I fell promptly in love with Jeff Bridges. That makes an impression.
I will admit that, until 9/11, I didn’t know the World Trade Center contained more buildings than just the towers. I suppose I should have known, or remembered, after 1993 though.
Not very long, though. The WTC topped out in 1971, and the Sears Tower overtook it in 1974. The Sears Tower (now called the Willis Tower) was the tallest in the world for about 25 years.
I really, really meant what I said- I knew of the Twin Towers and could easily recognize them in the New York skyline. The Empire State Building, Chrysler Building, CN Tower, Sears Building, Space Needle, St. Louis Arch etc too (in their respective cities).
I don’t know if I always referred to the as the World Trade Center though. I think I either called them The Twin Towers or World Trade Towers.
Another film in which the towers appeared is at the end of Trading Places, when Dan Aykroyd and Eddie Murphy’s characters arrived at the commodities exchange.
Well yeah, they were freaking huge, an iconic part of the New York skyline. I always called them the Twin Towers prior to 2001 but I was aware that they were part of the World Trade Center - probably because of the 1993 bombings, I was only in the third grade but I remember the massive amount of news coverage.
I didn’t know what they were until 9/11 but I was only 11 when it happened and I never had any interest in the New York skyline
They’re also in the video for Ryan Adams’ song “New York, New York” that was filmed four days before the attack.
I had just turned 14 when 9/11 happened. Looking back, I don’t remember ever thinking about the New York WTC before that time, but I remember that day, and I don’t really remember asking anyone, “The what got hit?”
But if I didn’t know about the Twin Towers at that time, I would not be so surprised. I was 5 in '93, and I don’t have any memories of the first attack.
Of course. When they were putting them up, you could see them (on a clear day) from my high school. Interesting note: While they were being erected, the towers were a striking YELLOW color. It must have been insulation, or something. The finished buildings, of course, were covered in that corduroy brushed aluminum finish.
I’ve been up to the top several times, and one of my friends used to work there.
Even if you didn’t live oin the NYC metropolitan area, the towers showed up in movies and news all the time. Not only did that guy tightrope walk between the towers, another guy climbed up the outside. Both, of course, were arrested, but they got invited to the same party, years later.
as mentioned, the towers showed up in several movies. They filmed a dance number from Godspell up there before the towers even opened. The scene is on the album cover and some movie posters. Then they set the 1976 King Kong climax up there, and it was on that movie’s poster, as well. When they released Godzilla vs. Megalon about the same time, the US poster showed them atop the World Trade Center, as well, even though it’s not in the movie. The poster for the movie The Squeeze also featured the WTC prominently. That’s four major films that had the building in its posters. As noted, it also featured in Escape from New York , and a tsunami breaks over it in Deep Impact, and you can see it rising from sunken New York in A.I..
It was the tallest building(s) in the world for several months, eclipsing the decades-long reign of the Empire State Building. If you were around in the 1970s and 1980s it would be impossible for you not to know that the Twin Towers were the World Trade Center. It’s difficult for me to believe, after the 1993 bombing, that people were unaware of its name.
Since we’re speaking movies here, anybody else remember the original Spider-Man trailer? The towers featured predominantly in it, and then the scene had to subsequently be cut.
Sure, I recognized them. I was born and raised in Iowa, but I knew what the World Trade Center was long before I set foot in New York.
I studied Latin in NY one summer not long before the '93 bombing and had dinner at Windows on the World with that group. A number of years later I went to work for a company that had its corporate HQ across the street from the WTC. At one corporate outing I stayed at the Marriott WTC and had dinner at Windows on the World a second time. At the time, we joked about whether or not we’d hit the water if the tower fell over sideways (a discussion prompted by the '93 bombing). A bit unsettling, looking back.
Actually, after watching the trailer again, it seems like it (possibly) was never supposed to be in the movie but was more of a buzz-generator kind of thing, just to clear up my previous statement…
I remember a Simpsons episode where Homer is in one of the towers and he has to go over to the other tower to use the bathroom. By the time he comes out the family car has a boot on it and an exasperated Homer drives it anyway, tearing up the wheel well and the street.
Might be called Homer vs. New York.
My comments exactly, except my visit came in 2009.
Yes, I knew what they were, and I had been to the observation deck on top.
Born and raised in California, I knew what the WTC were but only a vague idea of what went on inside, I always assumes it was just a very famous office building.