One of the funniest stories surrounding the 'Tulip craze' was that a captain of a long distance sea voyage upon returning to the Netherlands found himself in the ante-room waiting for his masters to hear his report.
He stood there for a while being ravenously hungry, and spotting an onion on a little plate made short work of it with his pocket knife.
Imagine his surprise when he found himself in the brig for eating a 'prized possession', he'd just eaten a Tulip bulb that at the market rate of the time was worth more than his ship.
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That's from memory, I'm not sure how accurate it is, or even if it is true, it was in our history books in school. But still, even if it is just a story it illustrates nicely just how 'crazy' the Tulip craze really was.
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[ 4.0 ms ] story [ 32.0 ms ] threadHe stood there for a while being ravenously hungry, and spotting an onion on a little plate made short work of it with his pocket knife.
Imagine his surprise when he found himself in the brig for eating a 'prized possession', he'd just eaten a Tulip bulb that at the market rate of the time was worth more than his ship.
--
That's from memory, I'm not sure how accurate it is, or even if it is true, it was in our history books in school. But still, even if it is just a story it illustrates nicely just how 'crazy' the Tulip craze really was.