What the Victorians called tulipomania:
"The beginning of tulpenwoerde, or what the Victorians called tulipomania, is associated with the arrival in the tulip market around 1634 of outsiders who were apparently attracted by stories of rising prices for tulip bulbs in Paris and northern France. Among the entrants into the market--later dismissed by Dutch florists as the 'new entrants'--were weavers, spinners, cobblers, bakers, grocers, and peasants. ...a key difference between then and now:
"No actual delivery of tulips took place during the height of the boom in late 1636 and early 1637 as the bulbs remained snug in the ground ... [and] a market in tulip futures appeared. Most transactions were expedited with personal credit notes and [one individual] boasted of having made 60,000 guilders from his tulip speculations but admits that he had only received 'other people's writing
The average annual wage in Holland was between 200 and 400 guilders.Delancey Place 27.Oct.08
A small town house cost around 300 guilders.
