The speculative bubble associated with the Netherlands in the 1630s was called tulip mania.
Tulips became highly fashionable among wealthy Dutch buyers, and prices for some rare bulbs rose dramatically. Contracts for bulbs could be traded before the flowers were delivered, creating a speculative market in which participants hoped to resell at higher prices. The most intense activity occurred in the winter of 1636–1637.
In February 1637, buyers reportedly failed to appear at an auction in Haarlem, and confidence weakened. Prices then fell rapidly. The episode became famous as a warning about irrational speculation, although modern historians have shown that the popular story often exaggerates both the scale of participation and the damage to the wider Dutch economy.
Tulip mania was not a stock-market crash in the modern sense. It involved bulb contracts and commodities rather than shares in listed corporations. It is included in financial-crash history because it illustrates how expectations, leverage, and herd behavior can inflate prices beyond ordinary use value.