1 00:00:00,560 --> 00:00:03,760 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff you missed in History Class from how 2 00:00:03,800 --> 00:00:13,720 Speaker 1: Stuff Works dot com. Hello, and welcome to the podcast. 3 00:00:13,840 --> 00:00:16,400 Speaker 1: I'm fair Dowdy and I'm to Bling Choker Boarding, and 4 00:00:16,440 --> 00:00:19,959 Speaker 1: we're going to start off today's episode with a little story, 5 00:00:20,120 --> 00:00:24,400 Speaker 1: a legend, and it's about a merchant in seventeenth century 6 00:00:24,440 --> 00:00:27,680 Speaker 1: Holland and he greets one of his ships is just 7 00:00:27,880 --> 00:00:31,600 Speaker 1: arrived from abroad, and he gives a sailor on board 8 00:00:31,640 --> 00:00:35,360 Speaker 1: a herring for lunch, very generous of him. And the 9 00:00:35,479 --> 00:00:38,640 Speaker 1: sailor is looking for a little something to eat with 10 00:00:38,720 --> 00:00:41,640 Speaker 1: his harring, a little side dish, looking around the ship, 11 00:00:41,800 --> 00:00:45,120 Speaker 1: and he finds some root like vegetables on board, and 12 00:00:45,479 --> 00:00:47,800 Speaker 1: he thinks they're onions, so he cuts them up and 13 00:00:47,840 --> 00:00:51,400 Speaker 1: he fries them with some oil and vinegar or some 14 00:00:51,440 --> 00:00:54,720 Speaker 1: sort of condiments to to make them tasty, and he 15 00:00:54,800 --> 00:00:59,760 Speaker 1: eats them with his fish. And through this sailor's innocent mistake, 16 00:01:00,040 --> 00:01:03,520 Speaker 1: the merchant ends up losing more on the meal than 17 00:01:03,600 --> 00:01:07,120 Speaker 1: he would have if he had bought the prince himself 18 00:01:07,200 --> 00:01:10,720 Speaker 1: the finest feast in the land. Um. So you'll you've 19 00:01:10,760 --> 00:01:15,000 Speaker 1: probably heard this story before, and you'll find it rehashed 20 00:01:15,040 --> 00:01:19,200 Speaker 1: and retold in tons of sources and articles that you 21 00:01:19,319 --> 00:01:23,200 Speaker 1: might read in your favorite business journal today, and it 22 00:01:23,319 --> 00:01:27,880 Speaker 1: really epitomizes the financial bubble that shook the seven century 23 00:01:27,959 --> 00:01:32,119 Speaker 1: Dutch Republic, which, as the story goes, rich and poor 24 00:01:32,160 --> 00:01:37,000 Speaker 1: people like speculated on tulip bulbs and um, they were 25 00:01:37,120 --> 00:01:41,040 Speaker 1: destroyed when ultimately the market dropped before the bulbs that 26 00:01:41,160 --> 00:01:45,399 Speaker 1: even bloomed. And almost since then, this little tale not 27 00:01:45,520 --> 00:01:49,720 Speaker 1: just the story of the bulbs mistake and his onions, 28 00:01:49,800 --> 00:01:53,200 Speaker 1: but this greater story has been an anecdote for business 29 00:01:53,200 --> 00:01:57,240 Speaker 1: writers to use as a cautionary tale as as something 30 00:01:57,320 --> 00:02:00,480 Speaker 1: to watch out for. Don't get too crazy see about 31 00:02:00,480 --> 00:02:03,560 Speaker 1: get rich quick schemes, or you might find yourselves like 32 00:02:03,600 --> 00:02:06,840 Speaker 1: the Dutch. Yeah, I know what you're eating. That's another aspect. 33 00:02:06,920 --> 00:02:09,799 Speaker 1: It was another left from learned. And one reason you'll 34 00:02:09,840 --> 00:02:12,840 Speaker 1: find that this Harrying Exotic onion side dish story and 35 00:02:12,880 --> 00:02:15,760 Speaker 1: print so frequently is because it really makes a nice 36 00:02:15,800 --> 00:02:19,959 Speaker 1: historical counterpart to current events. Um articles about the dot 37 00:02:19,960 --> 00:02:23,519 Speaker 1: com bubble, housing bubble, even a tiny bubble of beanie 38 00:02:23,560 --> 00:02:27,280 Speaker 1: babies that happened in the late nineties. So I'm proud 39 00:02:27,320 --> 00:02:30,280 Speaker 1: I was not part of that bubble. Yeah not It 40 00:02:30,360 --> 00:02:33,559 Speaker 1: was even I was probably a really at risk population 41 00:02:33,680 --> 00:02:37,200 Speaker 1: to be part of it, but I avoided it. And yeah, 42 00:02:37,240 --> 00:02:39,480 Speaker 1: it's just to give you an example though, of how 43 00:02:39,600 --> 00:02:43,040 Speaker 1: often this story is used by business writers. Um. I 44 00:02:43,120 --> 00:02:46,520 Speaker 1: found this particular version in The Economist. So I mean, 45 00:02:46,560 --> 00:02:49,320 Speaker 1: there you go, kind of one of the ultimates there. Um. 46 00:02:49,440 --> 00:02:52,560 Speaker 1: But we're gonna be talking about the tulip bubble or 47 00:02:52,600 --> 00:02:56,079 Speaker 1: tulip mania, it's called lots of different things, and try 48 00:02:56,120 --> 00:03:00,640 Speaker 1: to figure out why the bottom fell out, and also 49 00:03:01,040 --> 00:03:03,520 Speaker 1: sort of throw a ranch in the mix here and 50 00:03:03,600 --> 00:03:08,120 Speaker 1: talk about the revisionist history that's really changed the story 51 00:03:08,160 --> 00:03:09,920 Speaker 1: a lot in the past year, or at least gotten 52 00:03:09,919 --> 00:03:13,160 Speaker 1: a lot of people thinking. Um, but before we we 53 00:03:13,280 --> 00:03:15,440 Speaker 1: go into the trade as a whole, we've got to 54 00:03:15,440 --> 00:03:19,560 Speaker 1: discuss the history of the commodity itself. Tulips, which have 55 00:03:19,680 --> 00:03:22,680 Speaker 1: a pretty pretty interesting history. And let's say, for for 56 00:03:23,320 --> 00:03:27,720 Speaker 1: a flower that you that looks like an onion, potentially, yes, 57 00:03:27,720 --> 00:03:29,839 Speaker 1: they do. And writer Anna Pavard, who wrote just one 58 00:03:29,880 --> 00:03:32,640 Speaker 1: of the surprisingly large number of books on tulips that 59 00:03:32,680 --> 00:03:36,000 Speaker 1: have come out since, said that the tulip is a 60 00:03:36,000 --> 00:03:41,160 Speaker 1: flower that has carried more political, social, economic, religious, intellectual, 61 00:03:41,200 --> 00:03:46,080 Speaker 1: and cultural baggage than any other on earth, So put 62 00:03:46,080 --> 00:03:48,640 Speaker 1: that in your face. I know, I never knew. What 63 00:03:48,640 --> 00:03:51,680 Speaker 1: do you think of it? Um? But the tulip used 64 00:03:51,680 --> 00:03:55,960 Speaker 1: to just be another wildflower. Of course, it didn't start 65 00:03:56,000 --> 00:03:58,640 Speaker 1: with this history. It was one that grew in Turkey 66 00:03:58,720 --> 00:04:01,920 Speaker 1: and Central Asia, and there are still more than one 67 00:04:01,960 --> 00:04:04,560 Speaker 1: hundred species there today. I looked them up online. They're 68 00:04:04,880 --> 00:04:07,880 Speaker 1: really pretty. They don't look that much like I mean, 69 00:04:07,880 --> 00:04:09,800 Speaker 1: you can tell they're related, but they don't look that 70 00:04:09,880 --> 00:04:12,440 Speaker 1: much like the tulips that you might grow in your 71 00:04:12,480 --> 00:04:15,680 Speaker 1: garden today. They're they're sort of pointier and a little 72 00:04:15,680 --> 00:04:20,560 Speaker 1: more open with like buttercups or something rather than Holland 73 00:04:20,600 --> 00:04:24,960 Speaker 1: grown tulips. Sounds very nice. With the Ottomans, they brought 74 00:04:25,000 --> 00:04:28,480 Speaker 1: these bulbs into their courtyards and domesticated them, and they 75 00:04:28,480 --> 00:04:31,200 Speaker 1: were just obsessed, as the Dutch would become with these 76 00:04:31,200 --> 00:04:34,640 Speaker 1: flowers there. They like the long, narrow flowers with the 77 00:04:34,680 --> 00:04:37,960 Speaker 1: pointy petals, and they use them as a decorative motif 78 00:04:38,040 --> 00:04:40,479 Speaker 1: and things like embroidery and tiles. They even had a 79 00:04:40,520 --> 00:04:44,120 Speaker 1: special vase for one blossom. But by the mid fifteen hundreds, 80 00:04:44,200 --> 00:04:48,280 Speaker 1: tulips were brought to Europe by Ogier jes Land de Bozvek, 81 00:04:48,400 --> 00:04:51,400 Speaker 1: the ambassador for Ferdinand the First of Austria to Suleiman 82 00:04:51,520 --> 00:04:54,560 Speaker 1: the Magnificent. Yeah, and a little side note on this 83 00:04:54,640 --> 00:04:58,320 Speaker 1: ambassador here. Um we mentioned in the earlier episode on 84 00:04:58,360 --> 00:05:01,279 Speaker 1: Cinderella of the hare Um that's Leman sort of started 85 00:05:01,320 --> 00:05:06,440 Speaker 1: this tradition of not speaking to ambassadors presented at his court. 86 00:05:06,640 --> 00:05:11,279 Speaker 1: And so we can imagine that Ogier Jeslon definitely suffered 87 00:05:11,440 --> 00:05:15,839 Speaker 1: under this cold eye of Suleiman Um. At one point, 88 00:05:15,880 --> 00:05:18,360 Speaker 1: actually he more than suffered. At one point the Sultan 89 00:05:18,360 --> 00:05:22,960 Speaker 1: placed him under house arrest. He was eventually freed um. 90 00:05:23,000 --> 00:05:26,360 Speaker 1: And when he does come back to Austria, he brought 91 00:05:26,800 --> 00:05:30,480 Speaker 1: not only tulip seeds, not tulip bulbs. Tulip seeds which 92 00:05:30,720 --> 00:05:34,000 Speaker 1: take a really, really long time to turn them into tulips. 93 00:05:34,040 --> 00:05:36,279 Speaker 1: But he didn't just bring back those. He brought back 94 00:05:36,360 --> 00:05:39,560 Speaker 1: lilacs and and gora goats too, which I guess that's 95 00:05:39,560 --> 00:05:42,400 Speaker 1: why he didn't bring the bulbs. The goats probably took 96 00:05:42,440 --> 00:05:44,840 Speaker 1: a lot of room. Yeah, they sound like they'd be 97 00:05:44,960 --> 00:05:48,480 Speaker 1: pretty tough to transport. Holland Oh had to wait a 98 00:05:48,560 --> 00:05:52,839 Speaker 1: few more years for tulips. But in fife careless. Clusius, 99 00:05:52,880 --> 00:05:56,080 Speaker 1: who was the prefect of the Imperial herb Gardens in Vienna, 100 00:05:56,520 --> 00:05:58,960 Speaker 1: he brought some bulbs with him when he immigrated and 101 00:05:59,040 --> 00:06:03,160 Speaker 1: headed up to a new botanical gardens in Leiden. So 102 00:06:03,200 --> 00:06:05,719 Speaker 1: basically he was taking a new position and brought them along. 103 00:06:06,240 --> 00:06:10,200 Speaker 1: Um Inclusius he bred these tulips mostly for medicinal purposes, 104 00:06:10,480 --> 00:06:13,400 Speaker 1: but he considered them to be beautiful too, so dual 105 00:06:13,440 --> 00:06:15,640 Speaker 1: purpose there. Well. And I have one more thing to 106 00:06:15,680 --> 00:06:19,479 Speaker 1: add about the medicinal purposes. I'm not sure what these 107 00:06:19,560 --> 00:06:25,400 Speaker 1: medicinal purposes were because I looked into it, and UM, tulips, 108 00:06:25,560 --> 00:06:30,560 Speaker 1: especially their bulbs are filled with glycosides which are extremely toxic. 109 00:06:30,720 --> 00:06:35,279 Speaker 1: And according to the Nova Scotia Museum, during World War two, UM, 110 00:06:35,360 --> 00:06:38,600 Speaker 1: some starving Dutch cattle and people had to resort eating 111 00:06:38,640 --> 00:06:41,119 Speaker 1: bulbs and they would get quite sick from it. Um. 112 00:06:41,200 --> 00:06:45,400 Speaker 1: So y'all should actually all thank Delna for making me 113 00:06:45,440 --> 00:06:49,680 Speaker 1: go look up why Closius was using these for medicinal 114 00:06:49,760 --> 00:06:54,320 Speaker 1: purposes before I like accidentally recommended that tulips made good medicine. 115 00:06:54,320 --> 00:06:57,159 Speaker 1: And everybody ate the bulbs that they had just brought 116 00:06:57,240 --> 00:07:00,360 Speaker 1: from pikes or something. Stick to your pharmacuticus. That's our 117 00:07:00,400 --> 00:07:06,080 Speaker 1: official recommendation. But luckily uh Clusius here as I said, 118 00:07:06,120 --> 00:07:09,240 Speaker 1: he uh, he also loved the bulbs for their beauty, 119 00:07:09,440 --> 00:07:11,960 Speaker 1: and many other people did too. He really had a 120 00:07:12,000 --> 00:07:14,000 Speaker 1: hard time preventing the bulbs from being stolen out of 121 00:07:14,000 --> 00:07:19,600 Speaker 1: his garden. So the attraction begins. Yeah, it definitely begins 122 00:07:19,640 --> 00:07:23,880 Speaker 1: with his garden. Um, and presumably it's from these stolen 123 00:07:23,960 --> 00:07:28,720 Speaker 1: bulls and others hopefully purchased legitimately. Um that a trade 124 00:07:29,000 --> 00:07:32,760 Speaker 1: in tulips emerges, and the traders are called bloom Aston, 125 00:07:33,520 --> 00:07:38,320 Speaker 1: which means tulip traders. It also kind of means tulip 126 00:07:38,520 --> 00:07:41,800 Speaker 1: fanciers or tulip enthusiasts, which is something that you should 127 00:07:42,160 --> 00:07:45,640 Speaker 1: keep in mind when we get into the speculative nature 128 00:07:45,920 --> 00:07:49,720 Speaker 1: of this later story. Um. But yeah, I mean, basically, 129 00:07:49,800 --> 00:07:54,000 Speaker 1: the point is that these first traders love tulips to 130 00:07:54,200 --> 00:07:56,960 Speaker 1: They're not just in it for the money. They're collectors. 131 00:07:57,160 --> 00:08:00,320 Speaker 1: And this is a time when collecting things or your 132 00:08:00,480 --> 00:08:06,239 Speaker 1: curio is really really popular. When you would you'd add 133 00:08:06,680 --> 00:08:10,120 Speaker 1: up seashells and and things like that, interesting rocks and 134 00:08:10,200 --> 00:08:12,880 Speaker 1: minerals um and display them and it would show that 135 00:08:12,920 --> 00:08:18,200 Speaker 1: you were educated cultured person, so you had to have 136 00:08:18,240 --> 00:08:20,680 Speaker 1: a love for um, and you also had to have 137 00:08:20,720 --> 00:08:23,880 Speaker 1: some good faith to deal in tulips too. And here's why. 138 00:08:23,960 --> 00:08:27,280 Speaker 1: Traditionally the trade, the tulip trade was done in the summer. 139 00:08:27,800 --> 00:08:31,040 Speaker 1: Flowers bloomed in May or June, and after that the 140 00:08:31,080 --> 00:08:34,240 Speaker 1: bulb was dug up and it was kept too dry indoors. 141 00:08:35,280 --> 00:08:37,240 Speaker 1: The bulbs then had to be inspected and they were 142 00:08:37,280 --> 00:08:40,560 Speaker 1: sold just before they were replanted in September, so the 143 00:08:40,600 --> 00:08:43,679 Speaker 1: seller would deliver the bulb and the buyer would pay up. Yeah, 144 00:08:43,720 --> 00:08:47,000 Speaker 1: so the issue here is pretty apparent. It's that if 145 00:08:47,040 --> 00:08:50,160 Speaker 1: you're the buyer, you don't know exactly what you're getting. 146 00:08:50,240 --> 00:08:52,480 Speaker 1: You don't know if it's the same ball that one 147 00:08:52,520 --> 00:08:55,080 Speaker 1: that you contracted for. You don't know if it's the 148 00:08:55,080 --> 00:08:57,600 Speaker 1: bulb that you saw bloom and it looks so pretty 149 00:08:57,720 --> 00:09:00,760 Speaker 1: last spring, and you don't know fits the bulb that's 150 00:09:00,760 --> 00:09:02,920 Speaker 1: going to perform as well as the one you saw. 151 00:09:02,960 --> 00:09:06,520 Speaker 1: I mean, there's already going to be a little uncertainty 152 00:09:06,720 --> 00:09:10,520 Speaker 1: in any kind of horticultural pursuit. But there's the potential 153 00:09:10,559 --> 00:09:14,199 Speaker 1: for deception here too, which made people pretty nervous and 154 00:09:14,640 --> 00:09:19,200 Speaker 1: to make matters worse, bulbs bought in the ground didn't 155 00:09:19,240 --> 00:09:22,200 Speaker 1: always bloom as people expected them to, even if they 156 00:09:22,240 --> 00:09:24,520 Speaker 1: were the same, even if there wasn't some sort of 157 00:09:24,559 --> 00:09:29,160 Speaker 1: fraud happening. And that's partly because the most popular tulips 158 00:09:29,200 --> 00:09:34,439 Speaker 1: at the time we're called broken tulips and um. If 159 00:09:34,480 --> 00:09:37,040 Speaker 1: you if you look at an old water color or 160 00:09:37,160 --> 00:09:40,320 Speaker 1: painting of tulips, you're probably looking at broken tulips. They 161 00:09:40,360 --> 00:09:44,760 Speaker 1: have these feather flame pedals um on a light background, 162 00:09:44,800 --> 00:09:47,640 Speaker 1: so's something like red or purple as stripe going up 163 00:09:47,760 --> 00:09:51,920 Speaker 1: the middle of each petal, and the tulip would bloom 164 00:09:51,960 --> 00:09:56,000 Speaker 1: like a normal solid color tulip one year, and then 165 00:09:56,040 --> 00:09:59,440 Speaker 1: the next year it would bloom as this broken flower 166 00:10:00,040 --> 00:10:03,560 Speaker 1: up like a total surprise to everyone, it seemed, and 167 00:10:04,080 --> 00:10:08,840 Speaker 1: it's descendants, any any descendant from that bulb, would also 168 00:10:08,960 --> 00:10:12,640 Speaker 1: bloom splotched and broken. And so at the time people 169 00:10:12,640 --> 00:10:15,520 Speaker 1: didn't know why this happened. It seemed like pure chance, 170 00:10:15,640 --> 00:10:18,560 Speaker 1: but these were the tulips they wanted. Today we know 171 00:10:18,720 --> 00:10:23,320 Speaker 1: that ironically it's caused by a virus which is delivered 172 00:10:23,320 --> 00:10:28,240 Speaker 1: by aphids. And because the broken tulips were I mean, 173 00:10:28,280 --> 00:10:31,000 Speaker 1: I don't want to stay sick they're not they're not 174 00:10:31,120 --> 00:10:34,600 Speaker 1: unable to to thrive in a certain sense, but they 175 00:10:34,600 --> 00:10:38,439 Speaker 1: are a little bit weaker. Because they're weaker, the bulbs reproduced, 176 00:10:40,160 --> 00:10:44,360 Speaker 1: they didn't reproduce as fast as a good, unaffected, healthy 177 00:10:44,440 --> 00:10:47,360 Speaker 1: bulb should, and so it drove up the price. It 178 00:10:47,480 --> 00:10:51,280 Speaker 1: made these broken flowers even more valuable and more desirable. 179 00:10:51,720 --> 00:10:55,320 Speaker 1: And were you saying that, um, with the blotching us, 180 00:10:55,400 --> 00:10:58,439 Speaker 1: the splotching us on the pedal, you couldn't tell how 181 00:10:58,480 --> 00:11:01,400 Speaker 1: it would be splotched. Yeah, that chance too. So maybe 182 00:11:01,440 --> 00:11:04,280 Speaker 1: it was some ugly splatch he didn't like, or maybe 183 00:11:04,320 --> 00:11:06,520 Speaker 1: it was these perfect flames going up the middle of 184 00:11:06,559 --> 00:11:09,000 Speaker 1: the pedal. Um. So you didn't know what you were 185 00:11:09,000 --> 00:11:11,680 Speaker 1: going to get, even if you were dealing with someone 186 00:11:11,720 --> 00:11:16,200 Speaker 1: who is trustworthy. So the most expensive tool at the 187 00:11:16,200 --> 00:11:19,000 Speaker 1: time was Semper Augustus, which was a red and white 188 00:11:19,000 --> 00:11:22,800 Speaker 1: striped variety, and it went for a thousand florins, which 189 00:11:22,840 --> 00:11:25,360 Speaker 1: was six times the annual income of an average person 190 00:11:25,400 --> 00:11:28,720 Speaker 1: at that time. Yeah, but even as early as sixteen ten, 191 00:11:28,840 --> 00:11:33,560 Speaker 1: according to the Encyclopedia Britannica, a single rare bulb made 192 00:11:33,600 --> 00:11:38,360 Speaker 1: an acceptable dowry and an entire brewery. And I like 193 00:11:38,520 --> 00:11:43,720 Speaker 1: I think the Encyclopedia mentioned specifically a thriving brewery in 194 00:11:43,800 --> 00:11:47,920 Speaker 1: France was sold for one bulb, one highly coveted bulbs. 195 00:11:48,000 --> 00:11:52,800 Speaker 1: So we see these examples of people getting pretty obsessed 196 00:11:52,840 --> 00:11:56,480 Speaker 1: with toolips early on. But it was in sixteen thirty four, 197 00:11:56,640 --> 00:11:59,200 Speaker 1: sixteen thirty five, depending on which source you look at, 198 00:11:59,200 --> 00:12:02,839 Speaker 1: that prices got really really high, and at that point 199 00:12:02,880 --> 00:12:07,400 Speaker 1: business started to change, and so instead of the system 200 00:12:07,480 --> 00:12:11,160 Speaker 1: Dablina described a minute ago where the bulbs were sold 201 00:12:11,200 --> 00:12:14,040 Speaker 1: in late summer when they were dug up, the bulbs 202 00:12:14,040 --> 00:12:17,280 Speaker 1: were now sold by weight while they were still in 203 00:12:17,360 --> 00:12:22,280 Speaker 1: the ground. Um, so this is fundamentally changing the process 204 00:12:22,440 --> 00:12:25,559 Speaker 1: of the tulip trade. Yeah, you may wonder how they 205 00:12:25,559 --> 00:12:28,679 Speaker 1: could even pull this off. Well, you what would happen 206 00:12:28,800 --> 00:12:31,560 Speaker 1: is you'd get the details of the bulb, what its 207 00:12:31,559 --> 00:12:35,320 Speaker 1: weight was at planting, it's expected weight comes September, but 208 00:12:35,400 --> 00:12:38,520 Speaker 1: that's it. There was no bulb, so it was actual 209 00:12:38,559 --> 00:12:41,439 Speaker 1: paper descriptions of the bulbs that were sold instead of 210 00:12:41,440 --> 00:12:44,320 Speaker 1: the bulbs themselves. So you imagine like getting this piece 211 00:12:44,360 --> 00:12:47,000 Speaker 1: of paper for something that you've paid money for. It's 212 00:12:47,080 --> 00:12:49,160 Speaker 1: kind of um, I mean imagine if you were buying 213 00:12:49,200 --> 00:12:51,920 Speaker 1: tulips now for your garden, and that was the deal 214 00:12:51,960 --> 00:12:54,440 Speaker 1: you got. You probably wouldn't be very happy with it. 215 00:12:54,920 --> 00:12:58,959 Speaker 1: Um and to to deal with this new system, this um, 216 00:12:59,480 --> 00:13:03,480 Speaker 1: this selling by weight system TOOLIP bulbs even got their 217 00:13:03,520 --> 00:13:07,199 Speaker 1: own unit of measure called the ozen I think also 218 00:13:07,280 --> 00:13:12,360 Speaker 1: called aces, where one of this unit equalled about zero 219 00:13:12,520 --> 00:13:17,680 Speaker 1: point zero zero one eight ounces, so super super tiny 220 00:13:17,800 --> 00:13:21,000 Speaker 1: units of measure as it would have to be. But 221 00:13:21,120 --> 00:13:23,120 Speaker 1: for the Bloomston there was money to be made even 222 00:13:23,200 --> 00:13:25,679 Speaker 1: if the price per ozin didn't change. As long as 223 00:13:25,679 --> 00:13:27,840 Speaker 1: your bulbs grew in the ground, your profits were going 224 00:13:27,880 --> 00:13:31,440 Speaker 1: to climb. So as demand continued to grow for these, 225 00:13:31,760 --> 00:13:34,600 Speaker 1: the offsets started to sell as well as mature bulbs, 226 00:13:34,600 --> 00:13:39,280 Speaker 1: which means offsets were basically they were bull bull bets. Yeah, 227 00:13:39,320 --> 00:13:41,240 Speaker 1: they were little bull bets. They took three to five 228 00:13:41,320 --> 00:13:45,400 Speaker 1: years to produce flowers of their own, so pretty risky venture. Yeah, 229 00:13:45,760 --> 00:13:48,360 Speaker 1: definitely more so than getting the pieces of paper instead 230 00:13:48,360 --> 00:13:50,559 Speaker 1: of your actual bulb. Well, because you're no longer even 231 00:13:50,640 --> 00:13:52,920 Speaker 1: buying a bulb that well, yeah, I saw that bull 232 00:13:53,040 --> 00:13:57,840 Speaker 1: bloom in May just this year. It's maybe fingers crossed 233 00:13:57,840 --> 00:14:00,880 Speaker 1: little blue bloom in three to five years UM so 234 00:14:00,960 --> 00:14:05,000 Speaker 1: a very risky business. And by six there's a futures 235 00:14:05,080 --> 00:14:09,600 Speaker 1: market too, where buyers would contract to buy an in 236 00:14:09,800 --> 00:14:14,440 Speaker 1: ground ball at a set price, gambling that it would eventually, 237 00:14:14,480 --> 00:14:16,839 Speaker 1: when it was finally dug up, it would be worth 238 00:14:16,920 --> 00:14:21,880 Speaker 1: more than the expected value. And UM contracts themselves were 239 00:14:22,280 --> 00:14:25,280 Speaker 1: bought and sold, and I think UM people who were 240 00:14:25,280 --> 00:14:27,840 Speaker 1: a little skeptical of this whole market called the whole 241 00:14:27,880 --> 00:14:30,640 Speaker 1: thing the wind trade, because you never knew which way 242 00:14:30,640 --> 00:14:34,800 Speaker 1: the wind would blow UM, and you ultimately had to 243 00:14:34,880 --> 00:14:37,640 Speaker 1: hope that there would be someone at the end who 244 00:14:37,680 --> 00:14:40,280 Speaker 1: would pay up when those bulbs came out of the ground. 245 00:14:40,440 --> 00:14:43,280 Speaker 1: That was what they were all gambling on. UM. To 246 00:14:43,440 --> 00:14:47,960 Speaker 1: make betters worse, buyers start buying without the money, so 247 00:14:47,960 --> 00:14:52,240 Speaker 1: they're buying on credit, and the sellers accept that because 248 00:14:52,360 --> 00:14:56,520 Speaker 1: they're gambling on the fact that the buyer himself will 249 00:14:56,600 --> 00:14:59,240 Speaker 1: probably be able to sell at a higher price eventually 250 00:14:59,280 --> 00:15:02,800 Speaker 1: as well, again all counting on that one person at 251 00:15:02,840 --> 00:15:04,760 Speaker 1: the end of the chain who's willing to pay out, 252 00:15:05,240 --> 00:15:07,160 Speaker 1: and the fact that the bulb actually turns out the 253 00:15:07,200 --> 00:15:10,200 Speaker 1: way it's planned. A lot of bets going on here. 254 00:15:10,640 --> 00:15:12,880 Speaker 1: So how high did this actually go? How much were 255 00:15:12,920 --> 00:15:16,680 Speaker 1: people actually spending on these bulbs. Well, there's some information 256 00:15:16,720 --> 00:15:20,960 Speaker 1: from seven floating around a nursery catalog, actually from a 257 00:15:21,000 --> 00:15:24,080 Speaker 1: Harlem florist, and it lists the name, weight and price 258 00:15:24,240 --> 00:15:26,760 Speaker 1: of a tulip viceroy for example. There were lists of 259 00:15:26,880 --> 00:15:30,280 Speaker 1: other tulips as well, but for this tulip viceroy, a 260 00:15:30,400 --> 00:15:34,440 Speaker 1: lightweight bulb sold for three thousand guilders. A heavy bulb 261 00:15:34,480 --> 00:15:38,520 Speaker 1: sold for four thousand, two hundred. So the low price 262 00:15:38,560 --> 00:15:42,800 Speaker 1: here was twenty times the annual salary of a skilled craftsman. Yeah, 263 00:15:42,880 --> 00:15:44,800 Speaker 1: and I mean again, we we need to point out 264 00:15:44,800 --> 00:15:46,640 Speaker 1: a few things. Even with this. We don't know if 265 00:15:47,120 --> 00:15:52,080 Speaker 1: if this tulip bulb viceroy sold for this amount or 266 00:15:52,120 --> 00:15:54,600 Speaker 1: if this is all part of the speculation, but it 267 00:15:54,800 --> 00:15:58,800 Speaker 1: was the offering price. Um, and it's it really is 268 00:15:58,960 --> 00:16:01,480 Speaker 1: kind of a I don't want to say unique, but 269 00:16:02,400 --> 00:16:06,960 Speaker 1: um a rare statistic from this time of of tulip 270 00:16:07,000 --> 00:16:09,840 Speaker 1: bulb's name and its price and its weight all being 271 00:16:09,840 --> 00:16:13,520 Speaker 1: put out there. We don't have that much information about it. Um. 272 00:16:13,520 --> 00:16:17,480 Speaker 1: And this whole era is sort of filled with these legends. 273 00:16:17,520 --> 00:16:20,160 Speaker 1: There's another really great one from this time which might 274 00:16:20,240 --> 00:16:25,120 Speaker 1: even be better known than that herring onion bulb beginning 275 00:16:25,240 --> 00:16:28,160 Speaker 1: that we told him. But the legend of the Black Tulip, 276 00:16:28,240 --> 00:16:32,720 Speaker 1: which ultimately inspired Alexander Dumas a novel also called The 277 00:16:32,760 --> 00:16:36,040 Speaker 1: Black tulip Um. This one, this one is starting to 278 00:16:36,080 --> 00:16:40,120 Speaker 1: show that there's bad feelings in the tulip trade. It 279 00:16:40,160 --> 00:16:43,640 Speaker 1: goes like this. There's a group of Harlem florists and 280 00:16:43,680 --> 00:16:46,440 Speaker 1: they hear that a cobbler at the Hague has produced 281 00:16:46,520 --> 00:16:50,640 Speaker 1: a black tulip, a rare coveted black tulip, and they 282 00:16:50,720 --> 00:16:52,880 Speaker 1: go to him and they haggle with him for a while, 283 00:16:53,360 --> 00:16:55,360 Speaker 1: and they finally work out a deal. They buy it 284 00:16:55,440 --> 00:16:58,720 Speaker 1: for one thousand and five hundred florins, and as soon 285 00:16:58,760 --> 00:17:01,400 Speaker 1: as it's there's they take it and they throw it 286 00:17:01,480 --> 00:17:03,480 Speaker 1: on the ground and they stomp it to bits. And 287 00:17:03,520 --> 00:17:07,200 Speaker 1: they tell him that he's a fool to have produced 288 00:17:07,240 --> 00:17:10,200 Speaker 1: this black tulip and to have sold it to them 289 00:17:10,240 --> 00:17:12,800 Speaker 1: for so little. They would have given him ten thousand 290 00:17:12,800 --> 00:17:15,399 Speaker 1: florins if he had asked, and they tell him that 291 00:17:15,440 --> 00:17:18,880 Speaker 1: he'll never ever be so lucky again to breathe this 292 00:17:19,040 --> 00:17:22,720 Speaker 1: black tulip. And as the story goes, he's so distraught 293 00:17:22,760 --> 00:17:25,760 Speaker 1: that he takes to bed and he dies. Of course 294 00:17:25,880 --> 00:17:28,840 Speaker 1: that has to be the end to the moral fairy 295 00:17:28,840 --> 00:17:32,720 Speaker 1: tale kind of black story. Yeah, but there's there's a 296 00:17:32,760 --> 00:17:35,440 Speaker 1: lot of bitterness even if we even if we step 297 00:17:35,480 --> 00:17:40,520 Speaker 1: away from this like obviously polemical story. Yeah, it was 298 00:17:40,720 --> 00:17:44,359 Speaker 1: bitterness about the people who quite didn't understand the tulip 299 00:17:44,400 --> 00:17:46,680 Speaker 1: thing or didn't thought it was kind of crazy, kind 300 00:17:46,680 --> 00:17:49,040 Speaker 1: of out there, but probably like a lot of people 301 00:17:49,200 --> 00:17:53,000 Speaker 1: now do. Um. For example, Harlem priest Theodicus Cats wrote 302 00:17:53,000 --> 00:17:55,800 Speaker 1: to his nephew on February five, six thirty seven that 303 00:17:56,119 --> 00:17:59,119 Speaker 1: like the plague that had been bad since sixty five, 304 00:17:59,560 --> 00:18:03,240 Speaker 1: now quote another sickness had risen. It is the sickness 305 00:18:03,280 --> 00:18:08,480 Speaker 1: of the Bloomston and Floriston. Also, historian Theodoras Trevilius wrote 306 00:18:08,560 --> 00:18:12,360 Speaker 1: a much later in he wrote a letter that said, quote, 307 00:18:12,720 --> 00:18:14,840 Speaker 1: I don't know what kind of angry spirit was called 308 00:18:14,840 --> 00:18:18,360 Speaker 1: it from hell, but our descendants doubtless will laugh as 309 00:18:18,400 --> 00:18:21,080 Speaker 1: a at the human insanity of our age that in 310 00:18:21,080 --> 00:18:24,800 Speaker 1: our times the tulip flowers have been so revered. So yeah, 311 00:18:24,840 --> 00:18:27,879 Speaker 1: a lot of self criticism even at the time, Um, 312 00:18:27,920 --> 00:18:30,679 Speaker 1: like what are we doing spending all of this money 313 00:18:30,680 --> 00:18:36,440 Speaker 1: and obsessing over tulips, So surprise, surprise. By February sixty seven, 314 00:18:36,480 --> 00:18:41,640 Speaker 1: the market collapses. Supposedly, as the traditional story goes, Um, 315 00:18:41,680 --> 00:18:45,080 Speaker 1: it's because an expected buyer fails to show up and 316 00:18:45,200 --> 00:18:48,879 Speaker 1: the whole market loses confidence. But more likely it's just 317 00:18:49,040 --> 00:18:52,719 Speaker 1: that people started to realize around this time that the 318 00:18:52,760 --> 00:18:58,400 Speaker 1: paper chain of buying and trading these these little descriptions 319 00:18:58,400 --> 00:19:00,760 Speaker 1: of tulips that are in the ground would only work 320 00:19:00,800 --> 00:19:03,280 Speaker 1: and they would only make their profit if there was 321 00:19:03,480 --> 00:19:06,360 Speaker 1: a buyer at the end, as we mentioned before. So yeah, 322 00:19:06,400 --> 00:19:09,360 Speaker 1: like if I bought a tulip from you, Toblina, and 323 00:19:09,680 --> 00:19:12,520 Speaker 1: I was trying to make money off of it, I 324 00:19:12,560 --> 00:19:15,520 Speaker 1: would know that I had to get like our producer 325 00:19:15,720 --> 00:19:19,320 Speaker 1: Jerry to buy the bulb ultimately, because if she didn't 326 00:19:19,320 --> 00:19:22,760 Speaker 1: buy it, then I'd be left with the toilip bulb 327 00:19:22,840 --> 00:19:25,560 Speaker 1: and trying to decide if I even wanted to pay 328 00:19:25,600 --> 00:19:28,000 Speaker 1: you for it, So it might all end up on 329 00:19:28,040 --> 00:19:33,639 Speaker 1: your lap. No way, cracking skulls at that point. Um. 330 00:19:33,800 --> 00:19:36,439 Speaker 1: So the sellers want their money, but there's really no 331 00:19:36,480 --> 00:19:40,360 Speaker 1: way to enforce these oral agreements. Um. As Sarah mentioned, 332 00:19:40,480 --> 00:19:44,439 Speaker 1: they probably weren't as violent as I just was. Um. 333 00:19:44,600 --> 00:19:47,480 Speaker 1: By March or so, it suggested that all trades since 334 00:19:47,520 --> 00:19:51,119 Speaker 1: the previous September be nullified. But at that point the 335 00:19:51,200 --> 00:19:55,880 Speaker 1: High Court steps in they say, basically, deal with it. 336 00:19:56,000 --> 00:19:57,560 Speaker 1: We don't want to deal with it. What they say 337 00:19:57,640 --> 00:20:01,080 Speaker 1: is all transactions remain enforce but deal with it yourself. 338 00:20:01,119 --> 00:20:05,000 Speaker 1: Don't come to us about it, essentially. And so, I mean, 339 00:20:05,040 --> 00:20:08,240 Speaker 1: just one example of how people tried to deal with it, 340 00:20:08,480 --> 00:20:11,719 Speaker 1: there was a self established commission of tradesmen set up 341 00:20:11,760 --> 00:20:15,320 Speaker 1: in Harlem and they decided that the contracts there would 342 00:20:15,359 --> 00:20:18,560 Speaker 1: be settled for three point five percent of the purchase price. 343 00:20:18,600 --> 00:20:21,320 Speaker 1: And of course nobody is happy with this. It's a 344 00:20:21,400 --> 00:20:25,159 Speaker 1: lose lose situation for everyone. If you are left with 345 00:20:25,240 --> 00:20:28,760 Speaker 1: the bulb, you are expecting a lot more for that, 346 00:20:28,880 --> 00:20:31,920 Speaker 1: and you know, presumably you've been making some bets yourself. 347 00:20:32,480 --> 00:20:35,199 Speaker 1: If you're stuck paying three point five percent of the 348 00:20:35,200 --> 00:20:40,479 Speaker 1: purchase price, you're just throwing away money essentially. So at 349 00:20:40,560 --> 00:20:44,520 Speaker 1: this point the story gets kind of mythic again, and 350 00:20:44,920 --> 00:20:47,080 Speaker 1: you know, it's kind of like the black tulip. So 351 00:20:47,240 --> 00:20:52,720 Speaker 1: supposedly the bubble bust just shakes the Dutch economy to 352 00:20:52,920 --> 00:20:57,719 Speaker 1: a tremendous extent because the investment is so widespread up 353 00:20:57,840 --> 00:21:02,800 Speaker 1: their speculators across classes, so bankruptcy it's common, and people 354 00:21:02,960 --> 00:21:06,199 Speaker 1: lose their houses and their businesses for tulips, and it 355 00:21:06,320 --> 00:21:11,120 Speaker 1: becomes the classic cautionary tale of being a little more 356 00:21:11,160 --> 00:21:13,800 Speaker 1: careful with your money, and sort of the poster boy 357 00:21:13,880 --> 00:21:17,200 Speaker 1: for it is Jan van Goyen, who was an artist 358 00:21:17,400 --> 00:21:22,080 Speaker 1: and supposedly died in debt because of tulips. Well we'll 359 00:21:22,119 --> 00:21:24,800 Speaker 1: find out a little bit more about that lately later 360 00:21:24,960 --> 00:21:28,280 Speaker 1: He did die in debt, but not necessarily because of 361 00:21:28,359 --> 00:21:32,000 Speaker 1: his tulip speculation. So needless to say, it's painted as 362 00:21:32,040 --> 00:21:35,479 Speaker 1: a pretty dire situation, and it's easy to see how 363 00:21:35,520 --> 00:21:38,440 Speaker 1: it was used as a cautionary tale. Recently, though, there's 364 00:21:38,480 --> 00:21:40,000 Speaker 1: been a little bit of a shift in how some 365 00:21:40,040 --> 00:21:43,439 Speaker 1: people look at the tulip bubble. For example, writer and 366 00:21:43,560 --> 00:21:47,520 Speaker 1: gold Girl suggested in two thousand sevens Tulipmania, Money, Honor 367 00:21:47,600 --> 00:21:50,359 Speaker 1: and Knowledge in the Dutch Golden Age that the idea 368 00:21:50,440 --> 00:21:53,720 Speaker 1: that the tulip mania was economically devastating to Holland is 369 00:21:53,760 --> 00:21:57,600 Speaker 1: the result of a few contemporary polemical pamphlets which were 370 00:21:57,600 --> 00:22:00,760 Speaker 1: written to basically make people more prudent in their own 371 00:22:00,760 --> 00:22:04,600 Speaker 1: business affairs. These in turn, she suggests we're taken up 372 00:22:04,640 --> 00:22:09,280 Speaker 1: by historians and gradually filtered into fact. So yeah, and 373 00:22:09,280 --> 00:22:12,719 Speaker 1: and sort of to add to that, because they because 374 00:22:12,720 --> 00:22:16,040 Speaker 1: this story has so frequently been used as an anecdote, 375 00:22:16,240 --> 00:22:20,080 Speaker 1: it sort of took on a sheen of current bubble comparison. 376 00:22:20,320 --> 00:22:22,800 Speaker 1: So if you're if you're writing about the south Sea bubble, 377 00:22:23,000 --> 00:22:27,200 Speaker 1: or if you're writing about housing housing today, yeah, it 378 00:22:27,560 --> 00:22:30,639 Speaker 1: takes on a little bit of whatever you're comparing it to. 379 00:22:31,200 --> 00:22:35,080 Speaker 1: And in a review for Reviews in History, j Leslie 380 00:22:35,080 --> 00:22:39,280 Speaker 1: Price wrote that the book was quote determinedly revisionists. So, 381 00:22:39,320 --> 00:22:42,040 Speaker 1: I mean, I really think this this book kind of 382 00:22:42,080 --> 00:22:46,800 Speaker 1: shook up the tulip story. But um, to add to that, recently, 383 00:22:46,880 --> 00:22:50,600 Speaker 1: a lot of economists have debated whether it was the 384 00:22:50,640 --> 00:22:55,160 Speaker 1: bubble at all. And and there are precise economic definitions 385 00:22:55,240 --> 00:22:56,920 Speaker 1: for for what that means that we're not going to 386 00:22:57,000 --> 00:23:00,320 Speaker 1: get into. But um, it seems to be like maybe 387 00:23:00,359 --> 00:23:03,639 Speaker 1: a fun exercise for economists or or perhaps the serious 388 00:23:03,640 --> 00:23:08,040 Speaker 1: study um to figure out if there was a bubble 389 00:23:08,560 --> 00:23:11,520 Speaker 1: and then to debate either for against it. Yes there 390 00:23:11,560 --> 00:23:15,840 Speaker 1: was a bubble, No, there were market reasons behind it. Um, 391 00:23:15,840 --> 00:23:20,560 Speaker 1: it's It's created a whole whole new topic of discussion 392 00:23:20,600 --> 00:23:24,399 Speaker 1: for these tulips. Yeah, And similarly, I think looking at 393 00:23:24,400 --> 00:23:27,080 Speaker 1: gold Gurl's argument is kind of a fun exercise for 394 00:23:27,160 --> 00:23:30,240 Speaker 1: historians as well, because she's just sort of searching for 395 00:23:30,280 --> 00:23:34,560 Speaker 1: the source that this tale came from in the first place. Definitely, 396 00:23:34,600 --> 00:23:37,200 Speaker 1: I always, I always like when I get a surprise 397 00:23:37,280 --> 00:23:39,640 Speaker 1: like this in an episode. I mean, I'm always relieved 398 00:23:39,760 --> 00:23:43,960 Speaker 1: that I found this update to the story. It terrifies 399 00:23:44,000 --> 00:23:47,000 Speaker 1: me that I won't someday, but um, it's it's fun 400 00:23:47,040 --> 00:23:50,440 Speaker 1: for us for sure. Yeah. So just a little bit 401 00:23:50,440 --> 00:23:53,359 Speaker 1: on Goldger's argument, most of her revision, so to speak, 402 00:23:53,440 --> 00:23:57,000 Speaker 1: come at the sake of traditional toolip sources or the canon, 403 00:23:57,119 --> 00:24:00,640 Speaker 1: you might say. Yeah, um, and a lot of our 404 00:24:00,840 --> 00:24:07,760 Speaker 1: traditional sources on tulipmania come from Charles McKay's Extraordinary Popular 405 00:24:07,840 --> 00:24:11,240 Speaker 1: Delusions and the Madness of Crowds, which was published in 406 00:24:11,280 --> 00:24:14,480 Speaker 1: eighteen forty one. It's a pretty popular book. It's actually 407 00:24:14,560 --> 00:24:17,280 Speaker 1: still in print. I looked it up. You could, you 408 00:24:17,320 --> 00:24:21,680 Speaker 1: could order it, um, And it paints a lot of 409 00:24:21,720 --> 00:24:26,119 Speaker 1: these really exciting stories about the bubble, like the mistaken 410 00:24:26,280 --> 00:24:30,640 Speaker 1: onions and things like oxen cheese, and clothes being traded 411 00:24:30,680 --> 00:24:35,120 Speaker 1: for one vice. Roy bulb Um the really picturesque accounts 412 00:24:35,119 --> 00:24:39,879 Speaker 1: of the story, but as gold Guard and covered it 413 00:24:39,960 --> 00:24:44,120 Speaker 1: turned out Charles McKay's main source was Johann Beckman, who 414 00:24:44,119 --> 00:24:47,920 Speaker 1: wrote a History of Inventions, Discoveries and Origins in sevent 415 00:24:49,440 --> 00:24:53,000 Speaker 1: and Beckman is an interesting character because he seems to 416 00:24:53,080 --> 00:24:56,040 Speaker 1: be one of the first major people who projected his 417 00:24:56,480 --> 00:25:02,560 Speaker 1: contemporary concerns onto the Dutch bubble, so economic concerns for 418 00:25:02,760 --> 00:25:06,520 Speaker 1: his time um and he may have also been the 419 00:25:06,560 --> 00:25:09,960 Speaker 1: guy who gave us the idea that the bubble burst 420 00:25:10,240 --> 00:25:15,400 Speaker 1: because the bloomaston became pure speculators. They weren't just collectors anymore. 421 00:25:15,800 --> 00:25:19,280 Speaker 1: And he seemed to view this almost as as expected 422 00:25:19,440 --> 00:25:22,600 Speaker 1: that well, surely you wouldn't just beat tulip fanciers and 423 00:25:22,680 --> 00:25:25,240 Speaker 1: spend these huge amounts of money. But he wrote, quote, 424 00:25:25,440 --> 00:25:28,840 Speaker 1: how ridiculous would it have been to purchase useless roots 425 00:25:28,880 --> 00:25:31,359 Speaker 1: with their weight in gold if the possession of the 426 00:25:31,400 --> 00:25:35,600 Speaker 1: flower had been the only object? Pretty I guess he 427 00:25:35,600 --> 00:25:39,840 Speaker 1: did wasn't in a tulip? Apparently not so? He His 428 00:25:39,960 --> 00:25:42,920 Speaker 1: argument kind of relies on Abraham Munting, a botanical writer 429 00:25:43,040 --> 00:25:46,560 Speaker 1: from the seventeenth century, whose father lost money on tulips, 430 00:25:46,560 --> 00:25:48,920 Speaker 1: but since Munting was too young to be their first hand, 431 00:25:49,080 --> 00:25:51,400 Speaker 1: his sources also came from somewhere else. So his sources 432 00:25:51,440 --> 00:25:55,159 Speaker 1: came from a chronicle or named Luva von night Seema 433 00:25:55,320 --> 00:25:59,280 Speaker 1: in sixteen sixty nine, and also a propaganda piece by 434 00:25:59,320 --> 00:26:03,520 Speaker 1: Audreyan Woman from sixteen thirty seven. So it Seema was 435 00:26:03,920 --> 00:26:07,679 Speaker 1: also drawing from sources from pamphlets. And we're left at 436 00:26:07,680 --> 00:26:10,960 Speaker 1: this point with pamphlets is like the basis the main 437 00:26:11,320 --> 00:26:13,639 Speaker 1: source for all of this stuff when we filter it 438 00:26:13,680 --> 00:26:15,439 Speaker 1: all down, when you filter it all down to the bottom, 439 00:26:15,480 --> 00:26:19,600 Speaker 1: that's what you get. And so of course the pamphlets 440 00:26:19,680 --> 00:26:24,359 Speaker 1: are gonna be anti speculation. They're going to be encouraging 441 00:26:24,400 --> 00:26:26,720 Speaker 1: people to not go out and blow all their money 442 00:26:26,760 --> 00:26:30,359 Speaker 1: on tulips. But it's interesting because Goldgert also takes the 443 00:26:30,359 --> 00:26:34,800 Speaker 1: closer look at a few of the most famous Mania 444 00:26:34,960 --> 00:26:39,280 Speaker 1: anecdotes and assumptions. For instance, the artists I mentioned earlier 445 00:26:39,359 --> 00:26:42,480 Speaker 1: who died in debt. For example, he did die in debt, 446 00:26:43,080 --> 00:26:46,280 Speaker 1: but it was much later in sixteen fifty six, perhaps 447 00:26:46,800 --> 00:26:50,720 Speaker 1: in debt for yet another speculative scheme, but not tulips 448 00:26:51,080 --> 00:26:55,040 Speaker 1: and Another issue that Goldgirl addresses is the idea that 449 00:26:55,560 --> 00:26:58,560 Speaker 1: the bubble had such a tremendously broad effect on the 450 00:26:58,560 --> 00:27:02,960 Speaker 1: economy because so many people were involved, rich people, poor people, 451 00:27:03,040 --> 00:27:07,000 Speaker 1: people in between. Instead, she argues that the bloom Aston 452 00:27:07,200 --> 00:27:10,160 Speaker 1: were this really tight knit group of people who worked 453 00:27:10,160 --> 00:27:13,000 Speaker 1: together for years and years and years. Most of them 454 00:27:13,200 --> 00:27:17,040 Speaker 1: loved collecting tulips as well as trading them, and they 455 00:27:17,080 --> 00:27:21,439 Speaker 1: would meet in inns and dispute toolip, you know, have 456 00:27:21,520 --> 00:27:25,720 Speaker 1: tulip talk with each other and dispute and exchange and trade. 457 00:27:26,119 --> 00:27:30,960 Speaker 1: And so certain members of the bloom Aston were obviously 458 00:27:31,040 --> 00:27:34,439 Speaker 1: severely shaken by the crash, but their numbers were smaller 459 00:27:34,480 --> 00:27:37,119 Speaker 1: than often thought. And of course, even if you were 460 00:27:37,119 --> 00:27:39,439 Speaker 1: a speculator, you didn't get into too much trouble if 461 00:27:39,440 --> 00:27:41,840 Speaker 1: you were in the middle of that chain, because hopefully 462 00:27:41,840 --> 00:27:46,560 Speaker 1: things would cancel, cancel, other things out, other debts and credits. Um. 463 00:27:46,600 --> 00:27:50,520 Speaker 1: So just sort of suggesting that maybe there was a 464 00:27:50,560 --> 00:27:54,560 Speaker 1: smaller pool of people affected by this crisis. The entirety 465 00:27:54,560 --> 00:27:59,160 Speaker 1: of Holland wasn't devastated because of this, uh, the tulip bubble. Yeah, 466 00:27:59,200 --> 00:28:01,719 Speaker 1: but gold Girl all would suggest that the bubble was 467 00:28:02,000 --> 00:28:04,960 Speaker 1: indeed a social and cultural crisis, So she doesn't deny 468 00:28:05,040 --> 00:28:07,440 Speaker 1: that in her book at all. Yeah, a real value 469 00:28:07,520 --> 00:28:11,639 Speaker 1: shock for the people of the country. And in the 470 00:28:11,720 --> 00:28:15,520 Speaker 1: sixteen thirties, the Dutch Republic was in boom times. It 471 00:28:15,560 --> 00:28:20,639 Speaker 1: was really good period and capitalism was sort of taking off, 472 00:28:20,680 --> 00:28:24,600 Speaker 1: but didn't quite sit right with everybody yet. And the 473 00:28:24,640 --> 00:28:28,600 Speaker 1: bubble scared people for a few reasons, apparently enough to 474 00:28:28,640 --> 00:28:33,280 Speaker 1: make them right some of these very angry concerned pamphlets. 475 00:28:33,520 --> 00:28:35,760 Speaker 1: So a few of those scary things. I mean, the 476 00:28:35,800 --> 00:28:39,400 Speaker 1: main one is that buyers were nagged after prices fell. 477 00:28:40,000 --> 00:28:43,160 Speaker 1: Nobody likes to see that. That's a that's a bad 478 00:28:43,200 --> 00:28:45,400 Speaker 1: sign for business. And then there was the fact that 479 00:28:45,400 --> 00:28:49,720 Speaker 1: the sellers basically had no recourse to get their money back. Um, 480 00:28:49,760 --> 00:28:54,080 Speaker 1: this one is interesting. Um the menon nights. This was 481 00:28:54,120 --> 00:28:57,240 Speaker 1: one of the reasons is that the Mennonites, who refused 482 00:28:57,240 --> 00:29:00,280 Speaker 1: to swear oaths and were considered very trustworthy, they were 483 00:29:00,320 --> 00:29:03,400 Speaker 1: also involved in a tulip trade and that act of 484 00:29:03,480 --> 00:29:07,720 Speaker 1: broken and so it was sort of like, if you 485 00:29:07,720 --> 00:29:10,040 Speaker 1: can't trust the Mennonites, who can you trust. Yeah, it 486 00:29:10,120 --> 00:29:14,280 Speaker 1: was it was unsettling for your average person. And I mean, 487 00:29:14,320 --> 00:29:17,800 Speaker 1: if we go into the product itself. It was disturbing 488 00:29:17,800 --> 00:29:21,400 Speaker 1: to people that are products value no longer had to 489 00:29:21,400 --> 00:29:24,880 Speaker 1: seem it leaves roughly on par with its market worth. 490 00:29:24,920 --> 00:29:27,440 Speaker 1: If you have a bulb that somebody can mistake as 491 00:29:27,440 --> 00:29:31,200 Speaker 1: an onion, although with that toxic substance, I don't know, 492 00:29:31,640 --> 00:29:35,160 Speaker 1: probably not mistake it as an onion. Um, you have 493 00:29:35,280 --> 00:29:41,000 Speaker 1: something that seems low value suddenly going for huge amounts. 494 00:29:41,160 --> 00:29:44,760 Speaker 1: And scariest of all though, is that people could get 495 00:29:45,000 --> 00:29:50,320 Speaker 1: rich through luck rather than work, which could potentially upset 496 00:29:50,320 --> 00:29:53,959 Speaker 1: the social order, which was a very dangerous thing. Indeed. Right, 497 00:29:54,000 --> 00:29:56,800 Speaker 1: So lots of scary new modern things kind of all 498 00:29:56,880 --> 00:29:59,840 Speaker 1: jumbled up together there. And we sort of talked about 499 00:29:59,880 --> 00:30:02,840 Speaker 1: this earlier, how we liked both versions of the story, 500 00:30:02,880 --> 00:30:06,400 Speaker 1: both the revisionist history on how the valid trade failed 501 00:30:06,440 --> 00:30:10,880 Speaker 1: and kind of the hysterical tale of my story speculation 502 00:30:11,000 --> 00:30:14,680 Speaker 1: that makes such a quaint and um, I guess interesting 503 00:30:14,760 --> 00:30:17,520 Speaker 1: intro to stories on modern booms and bus Yeah, I 504 00:30:17,880 --> 00:30:20,920 Speaker 1: like the story about a cow going for a toolip bulb. 505 00:30:21,480 --> 00:30:25,800 Speaker 1: And it's obviously quite likely that economists will continue to 506 00:30:25,840 --> 00:30:28,720 Speaker 1: debate whether this was really a bubble at all. I've 507 00:30:28,760 --> 00:30:31,160 Speaker 1: seen all sorts of back and forth. Yes, it is 508 00:30:31,200 --> 00:30:35,280 Speaker 1: a bubble, No it isn't. There were market explanations, yes, 509 00:30:35,320 --> 00:30:37,320 Speaker 1: how could you not think it was a bubble. Everybody 510 00:30:37,320 --> 00:30:39,840 Speaker 1: has an opinion, and I guess if they work it 511 00:30:39,880 --> 00:30:41,840 Speaker 1: all out eventually though, when it turns out to not 512 00:30:41,920 --> 00:30:44,840 Speaker 1: be a bubble, business writers are going to be out 513 00:30:44,920 --> 00:30:48,880 Speaker 1: of a really tasty anecdote. Yeah. I mean it does 514 00:30:49,000 --> 00:30:51,200 Speaker 1: make a good hook for a stag. Still use it, 515 00:30:51,320 --> 00:30:54,760 Speaker 1: maybe they I would still I would still read it, Yeah, definitely, 516 00:30:54,840 --> 00:30:57,680 Speaker 1: And we just thought it would be appropriate to close 517 00:30:57,760 --> 00:31:03,320 Speaker 1: with some current statistics about the Netherlands toolip production, and 518 00:31:03,360 --> 00:31:06,960 Speaker 1: maybe a note on the Dutch Republic too. I didn't 519 00:31:07,000 --> 00:31:09,720 Speaker 1: have all this straightened out, honestly, and I had to 520 00:31:09,720 --> 00:31:12,520 Speaker 1: look into it some. The difference between the Dutch Republic, 521 00:31:12,560 --> 00:31:16,120 Speaker 1: Holland and the Netherlands Um. Why we have mentioned Holland 522 00:31:16,160 --> 00:31:19,680 Speaker 1: so much rather than the Dutch Republic is because at 523 00:31:19,680 --> 00:31:23,960 Speaker 1: the time the tulip trade took place mostly within Holland 524 00:31:24,000 --> 00:31:27,240 Speaker 1: and its cities like Amsterdam and the Hague in Leiden 525 00:31:27,280 --> 00:31:31,600 Speaker 1: and Harlem. Um. Today, though the Kingdom of the Netherlands 526 00:31:31,640 --> 00:31:34,800 Speaker 1: makes up three parts, there's the Netherlands in Europe, which 527 00:31:34,840 --> 00:31:39,000 Speaker 1: of course includes Holland and the Netherlands, Antillies and Aruba, 528 00:31:39,200 --> 00:31:42,160 Speaker 1: so all over the world. But a geography lesson for you. 529 00:31:42,480 --> 00:31:46,120 Speaker 1: It's a little pop geography question and a little economics 530 00:31:46,200 --> 00:31:50,480 Speaker 1: lesson to top it off. Um Today the Netherlands still 531 00:31:50,520 --> 00:31:53,360 Speaker 1: produces three billion bulbs a year, so it didn't completely 532 00:31:53,400 --> 00:31:55,640 Speaker 1: wipe out the tulip trade even if the story of 533 00:31:55,680 --> 00:31:58,520 Speaker 1: the bubble is true. Fields cover half the country and 534 00:31:58,600 --> 00:32:02,680 Speaker 1: the Dutch flower industry actually has sevent of international production 535 00:32:02,720 --> 00:32:08,200 Speaker 1: of flowers and the trade. So people take vacations just 536 00:32:08,280 --> 00:32:11,600 Speaker 1: to to see the flowers blooming. They look lovely. I 537 00:32:11,640 --> 00:32:15,000 Speaker 1: was looking at the tourist website while I was doing 538 00:32:15,040 --> 00:32:18,600 Speaker 1: some research on this pretty nice, very nice. Well, I 539 00:32:18,640 --> 00:32:22,120 Speaker 1: guess that about wraps it up for the tulip bubble 540 00:32:22,280 --> 00:32:25,400 Speaker 1: or tulip mania. Maybe there will be some new economic 541 00:32:25,480 --> 00:32:27,960 Speaker 1: research that comes out soon or something and we can 542 00:32:28,280 --> 00:32:32,040 Speaker 1: or food or medicinal research will finally figure out what 543 00:32:32,280 --> 00:32:35,640 Speaker 1: carols was. Can you cook with tulip bulbs? Let us know, yeah, 544 00:32:35,680 --> 00:32:38,040 Speaker 1: some of you probably do know. I would actually be 545 00:32:38,120 --> 00:32:41,760 Speaker 1: interested in what the medicinal purposes for tulips are because 546 00:32:41,800 --> 00:32:45,680 Speaker 1: I know people use toxic herbs for medicinal purposes or 547 00:32:45,720 --> 00:32:49,000 Speaker 1: they have in the past. But yeah, I guess that's 548 00:32:49,120 --> 00:32:50,960 Speaker 1: is a good point, is any to bring us to 549 00:32:51,080 --> 00:32:56,520 Speaker 1: listener mail? So this message is from Laura and she 550 00:32:56,560 --> 00:33:00,000 Speaker 1: wrote Dear Sarah and to Bolina hell A ladies. In December, 551 00:33:00,120 --> 00:33:03,000 Speaker 1: I visited a friend of mine in Chicago before heading 552 00:33:03,040 --> 00:33:05,880 Speaker 1: home to my parents house in Wisconsin for Christmas, and 553 00:33:05,920 --> 00:33:08,000 Speaker 1: while he was there, she took me to the Crisp 554 00:33:08,040 --> 00:33:11,720 Speaker 1: Kendle market at Daily Plaza. The market runs from Thanksgiving 555 00:33:11,720 --> 00:33:14,680 Speaker 1: to Christmas and consists of mostly German vendors who sell 556 00:33:14,760 --> 00:33:18,080 Speaker 1: all sorts of items, food, beverages, et cetera. A good 557 00:33:18,080 --> 00:33:22,240 Speaker 1: place to go for unique or unusual gifts. Anyway, we 558 00:33:22,240 --> 00:33:24,920 Speaker 1: were at one of the vendors that sold German glass 559 00:33:25,040 --> 00:33:28,760 Speaker 1: ornaments in this place had an ornament shaped like every object, animal, 560 00:33:28,960 --> 00:33:32,800 Speaker 1: or symbol imaginable. Well, imagine my surprise when I see 561 00:33:32,840 --> 00:33:36,320 Speaker 1: a basket with King Ludwig ornaments in it. I immediately 562 00:33:36,400 --> 00:33:39,680 Speaker 1: remembered your podcast, magg King Ludvig dines alone and the 563 00:33:39,720 --> 00:33:43,160 Speaker 1: comments about how he's still to this day well revered, 564 00:33:43,640 --> 00:33:46,560 Speaker 1: well enough that they sell ornaments in his likeness. And 565 00:33:46,640 --> 00:33:50,000 Speaker 1: she also sent us a photo which is really funny. 566 00:33:50,040 --> 00:33:52,600 Speaker 1: I mean, it's a it's a bust of King Ludwig 567 00:33:53,320 --> 00:33:57,440 Speaker 1: made in glass. I'm I'm not so sure how accurate 568 00:33:57,480 --> 00:33:59,760 Speaker 1: the likeness is, but still I really like the idea 569 00:33:59,800 --> 00:34:03,280 Speaker 1: of trimming my tree next year with nad King Ludwig. 570 00:34:03,360 --> 00:34:05,640 Speaker 1: I think I might have to make a trip to 571 00:34:05,720 --> 00:34:09,080 Speaker 1: Chicago and check out this Christmas bot. It. I don't know, 572 00:34:09,440 --> 00:34:11,680 Speaker 1: but we'll have to. We'll have to email her back 573 00:34:11,719 --> 00:34:17,000 Speaker 1: and ask her can you bought a couple? Um? But anyways, 574 00:34:17,040 --> 00:34:21,600 Speaker 1: if you have any suggestions or comments, um or even 575 00:34:21,640 --> 00:34:24,920 Speaker 1: just fun tips about where to get cool Christmas ornaments, 576 00:34:25,000 --> 00:34:28,320 Speaker 1: let us know. You can email us at History Podcast 577 00:34:28,520 --> 00:34:31,080 Speaker 1: at how stuff works dot com. You can also find 578 00:34:31,120 --> 00:34:34,360 Speaker 1: us on Twitter and mist in history, and we're on Facebook. 579 00:34:34,680 --> 00:34:36,080 Speaker 1: And if you want to learn a little bit more 580 00:34:36,080 --> 00:34:38,759 Speaker 1: about economic bubbles in general, you can look it up 581 00:34:38,800 --> 00:34:41,760 Speaker 1: on our home page by typing in the title, which 582 00:34:41,800 --> 00:34:45,280 Speaker 1: is which economic bubble will be next to burst at 583 00:34:45,440 --> 00:34:52,799 Speaker 1: www dot how stuff works dot com. For more on 584 00:34:52,840 --> 00:34:55,439 Speaker 1: this and thousands of other topics, visit how stuff works 585 00:34:55,440 --> 00:34:58,120 Speaker 1: dot com. To learn more about the podcast, click on 586 00:34:58,160 --> 00:35:01,120 Speaker 1: the podcast icon in the upper right corner of our homepage. 587 00:35:01,840 --> 00:35:04,920 Speaker 1: The housetufforks iPhone app has a ride. Download it today 588 00:35:05,200 --> 00:35:14,600 Speaker 1: on iTunes. M hmmmmm