In 1636, Dutch Society Went Ballistic Over Exotic Tulips, And This Is What Sparked The Craze

The power of flowers is often overlooked. I mean, who would think that such a delicate organism is capable of causing catastrophes?
Well, according to Scottish author Charles MacKay, all of Dutch society went ballistic over exotic tulips in 1636.
Apparently, tulips wreaked havoc on the economy, and many people even spent a whole year’s salary on rare bulbs with the intention of reselling them for a profit.
MacKay referred to the event as “Tulipomania.” But how did the Dutch get to that point? What sparked the tulip craze?
It turned out that MacKay’s accounts of tulip mania were greatly exaggerated. He wrote, “Many who, for a brief season, had emerged from the humbler walks of life, were cast back into their original obscurity.
Substantial merchants were reduced almost to beggary, and many a representative of a noble line saw the fortunes of his house ruined beyond redemption.”
However, a historian named Anne Goldgar did some digging into MacKay’s claims and found that they didn’t accurately reflect what was happening during that period.
After studying records from Amsterdam, Alkmaar, Enkhuizen, and Haarlem, the center of the tulip trade, she discovered that the market for tulips was much smaller and more reasonable than MacKay portrayed.
The Dutch were prospering in the mid-1600s due to trade through the Dutch East India Company. As a result, many merchants had money to spare, which was how tulips became a source of fascination.

dvoevnore – stock.adobe.com – illustrative purposes only
The Dutch sought after rare bulbs that produced tulips with striped or speckled petals. From December 1636 to February 1637, tulip prices skyrocketed.
Some people shelled out exorbitant amounts of money. For example, there were tulips purchased for 5,000 guilders, which was equivalent to the price of a nice house in 1637.
In addition, others paid more than 300 guilders for a single tulip bulb, which was a year’s salary for a skilled craftsman.
These cases were few and far between, though. And anyway, they were considered luxury goods, so the majority of buyers were the richer members of society, not the working class.
“I only identified about 350 people who were involved in the trade, although I’m sure that number is on the low side because I didn’t look at every town,” Goldgar said.
“Those people were very often connected with each other in various ways, through a profession, family, or religion.”
Overall, there wasn’t a single case of anyone going bankrupt following the tulip market crash. So, the economic effects seemed to be pretty contained and did not completely ruin people financially.
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