APR 6 REMEMBERING THE DUTCH TULIP CRAZE

APR 6  REMEMBERING THE DUTCH TULIP CRAZE

Spring is in full bloom. As the saying goes: 'April Showers Bring May Flowers.' And here in San Francisco that means tulips. Lots of 'em. How many? Try...like...100,000 of them! As part of a promotion for American Tulip Day, last month famed Union Square was converted into a flower market. Here's the best part: They were all given away for FREE!

It's true: The tulip is a top-seller in flower shops and nurseries. Every year, Americans spend 50 million dollars purchasing a staggering 142,000,000 stems. Not bad for a relative new-comer to the flower market. 500 years ago, tulips were only found in their native area: Turkey and Iran. Things changed in 1554. That's when an Ottoman ambassador brought some tulips to Vienna as a gift to the Holy Roman Emperor. Europeans were mesmerized by the delicate petals and their stunning shades of color.

Eventually, tulip cultivation spread across Central Europe. Owning a tulip became a sort of status symbol. You'd proudly display it on your window sill and enjoy your neighbors' jealous comments. Farmers jumped at the chance to grow the new coveted luxury item. It sold for a lot more than an apple! At the time, Holland enjoyed the highest standard of living in the world. So it came as no surprise that the Dutch decided to spend their extra income on tulips, creating a new industry.

Coincidentally, another era was also being launched in Europe in the 1600's: The Scientific Revolution. Farmers were learning how to cross-breed and create new varieties of crops. This meant that new shades of tulips were being created. As always, people have innate desire to possess the rarest diamond, painting or...tulip. Soon people were paying extraordinary large amounts for the Bizarden. (yellow streaks on a read or violet background) Tulip, the rarest of them all.

What followed was Tulip Mania. Economists call it the first boom/bust in modern history. Behind gin, herrings and cheese, tulips were the #4 export from Holland in 1636. How much did they cost? Well, it's difficult to convert 17th century Dutch florins into Euros, but records indicate a sale of 40 Bizarden bulbs for 100,000 florins. That's around $40,000 in today's money! Sadly, what goes up must come down. With the help of the Bubonic Plague, the Tulip Craze came crashing down in two years' time.

But...just like a tulip bulb...industries can grow again. Last year, The Netherlands produced two billion tulips, surpassing last year's record!