Tulip mania was the Dutch financial bubble centered on rare tulip bulbs in the 1630s.
Tulips became highly desirable in the Dutch Republic after their introduction from the Ottoman Empire and wider cultivation in Europe. Some rare varieties were difficult to produce and took years to mature, encouraging specialist trading. During the period usually identified with tulip mania, contracts for bulbs changed hands at prices far above ordinary horticultural value.
The market turned in early 1637, when an auction in Haarlem reportedly failed to attract buyers. Confidence weakened, contracts became difficult to enforce or settle, and prices fell. The episode is often presented as the first major speculative bubble, although modern historians debate its scale and how broadly the crash affected the Dutch economy.
A common mistake is to assume every tulip bulb became extraordinarily expensive or that the collapse caused a national economic depression. Evidence suggests the most extreme prices involved particular rare varieties and futures-like contracts. Even with those qualifications, tulip mania remains a memorable example of speculation, imitation, and rapidly changing expectations.