WHAT WOULD YOU PAY FOR A TULIP?

I paid 6 euros ($9.00) for this tulip from the Netherlands. Certainly a bargain by Dutch standards during Holland's Golden Age.

For tulips were once one of the most sought after luxury items of the 17th century. Tulip bulbs were a type of currency unto themselves, with their value fluctuating wildly day to day. This "tulip mania" caused a major market crisis in 1637 with speculation ruining a good many traders.

The Turks were the original tulip lovers and it was from them the Dutch acquired their first bulbs in the late 1500s. By the early 1700s, it was the Turks who were importing bulbs from Holland.

An early 17th century bill of sale recorded the following transaction for one single tulip bulb:

two loads of wheat
four loads of rye
four fat oxen
eight fat swine
twelve fat sheep
two hogsheads of wine
four barrels of beer
two barrels of butter
1000 pounds of cheese
a marriage bed with linens
a sizable wagon to hall it all away
"and a partridge in a pear tree"

Now largely associated with the Netherlands, Holland produces over 3 million tulip bulbs each year.