Europe Euphoria

Do you know, what is Tulip Craze? It’s a term that economists and market observers often use. No, doubt there are many tulips in Haarlem at present but there was a time when getting even a single bulb of it was difficult. During the 17th century, the traffic in tulips began as in state bonds and shares. In the seventeenth-century tulips were popular and expensive item. The flower had been introduced to the region from the Ottoman Empire in the sixteenth century. During the first part of the 17th century, the demand for tulip bulbs in Netherlands reached such a peak that enormous price was charged for a single bulb. The rage for tulips became intense, and every one was caught by the craze, and positively some were driven mad by it. People started the trade of tulip bulb. They began to spend considerable sums in ornamenting their gardens with tulips. This taste for tulips promoted their rapid cultivation; everywhere gardens were laid out, studies promoted, new varieties of the favorite flower sought for. Image Credit Popular interest had shifted from hobbyists and collectors to speculators and gamblers. People from all walks of life liquidated their homes and real estate at incredibly low prices in order to speculate in tulip trading. To control this tulip craze, notaries and clerks were appointed, public laws were also developed. But people began to liquidate their tulip holdings. After reaching a peak, the tulip trade collapsed, tulip prices began to weaken rapidly. Soon, panic seized the market and tulip prices crashed. In a short time the fever became general, on every side there swarmed unknown tulips, of strange forms, and wonderful shades or combinations of colors, full of contrasts, caprices, and surprises. The flower remained popular and even became a national symbol. Today Haarlem enjoys the exquisite pleasure of admiring the very purest ideal of tulips in full bloom.