The bewitched Dutch

The cause of the tulip mania, is not only considered as a consequence of peoples' foolishness to believe such a delicate and luxurious commodity (which only flowers two weeks a year) would produce an ever growing market, but also fallen quantities of tulips demanded by Germans (caused by the Swedish success in 1636 in the Thirty - Year War), as well as the pestilence in the Netherlands during 1633-1637, which dramatically reduced the population and increased a shortage of labour force resulting in higher wages, therefore allowing people to invest in tulips.

It is not known precisely when first tulips were brought to Europe, according to some historical sources they were first mentioned in the mid 16^th century. Despite this fact, the Dutch became “crazy” over tulips only in the early 17^th century, almost a century later. People believed tulip represented their wealth so liquidated their assets to purchase bulbs, thus were willing to trade food, goods and wealth for a dull flower, all to project their economic status.

Mark Frankel in Bloomberg Businessweek wrote that “the Dutch population seemed torn by two contradictory impulses: a horror of living beyond one's means and the love of a long shot”, you can read the full article here.

Jan Brueghel, the Younger, “A Satire on the Folly of Tulip Mania” painted in 1640 to represent the absurd of the Dutch portraying them as brainless monkeys.  The detailed interpretation of the painting which depicts the course of the trade specifically can be found here. I have dedicated next three blogs to explain the way in which the tulipmania occurred.