Tulip mania is the 1637 Dutch market episode widely described as the first recorded speculative bubble.
During the Dutch Golden Age, prices for certain tulip bulbs rose dramatically, especially bulbs with unusual color patterns. Contracts were traded in a speculative market, and some participants bought with the expectation that they could resell at higher prices. In February 1637, confidence broke and prices fell sharply.
The episode is often used as an early example of boom-and-bust speculation. However, historians caution that popular retellings may exaggerate its size and impact. The market probably affected a limited portion of Dutch society rather than causing an economy-wide collapse comparable to later stock-market crashes.
Tulip mania was not a stock-exchange crash in the modern sense: it centered on bulb contracts and informal trading networks. It belongs in crash history because it illustrates recurring patterns of narrative-driven valuation, leverage, and sudden loss of confidence.