When a Flower Cost More Than a House

Ebbs of History · Sep 3, 2026 · 36m · transcript

In 1630s Holland, a single flower bulb could cost more than a canal house. How did a tulip become the world's most expensive object, and did the crash really send ruined merchants jumping into the canals? Grab your onion and let's find out.

Sources

• Wikipedia, "Tulip mania" (price data, Semper Augustus valuation, Mackay's claims, Thompson's contract-conversion argument, modern reassessments): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tulip_mania

• Smithsonian Magazine, "There Never Was a Real Tulip Fever" (Anne Goldgar's archival findings and the myth's origins)…