Take a moment to imagine that by selling a single tulip bulb that you would be able to pay off your entire house. You could even use that profit to buy a better and grander house. You could get that nice car you always dreamed about just by selling a single bulb! Not even the flower itself! This may sound crazy or just wishful thinking, but during the 1630s in the Dutch Republic a Tulip Mania occurred!

I don’t have the proper conversion between 17th century guilders to today’s American currency, but from my research I have found comparisons. Mike Dash, author of Tulipomania, describes that in 1633 one bulb of Semper Augustus was worth 5,000 guilders which quickly rose to 10,000 guilders by 1637. He states “It was enough to feed, clothe and house a whole Dutch family for half a lifetime, or sufficient to purchase one of the grandest homes on the most fashionable canal in Amsterdam for cash, complete with a coach house and an 80ft garden…” To me this is just incredible, but you have to remember that tulips were much rarer during this period and many of the most expensive bulbs were unique strains of the flower. Continue reading “A Mania for Tulips! The Economic Craze that Rocked the Dutch Republic” →