Debunking the 1637 Tulip Mania

In 1637, some Dutch tulip bulbs really did sell for extraordinary prices.

But the famous story of Tulip Mania—families ruined, homes exchanged for flowers, and the Dutch economy devastated by history's first great speculative bubble—is far more complicated.

The most prized tulips displayed spectacular flame-like patterns created by what we now know was a mosaic virus. As prices climbed, traders began buying and selling contracts for bulbs that were still underground. Then, in February 1637, buyers suddenly stopped appearing and prices collapsed.

Yet when historian Anne Goldgar examined the surviving Dutch records, she found little evidence for the widespread financial devastation described in later accounts.

So where did the legend come from?

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