Weird NewsHISTORY, BADLY REENACTED
Tulip Mania, Badly Reenacted
At the February sixteen thirty-seven peak, some bulbs sold for more than ten times a skilled artisan's yearly income; then the whole thing collapsed that same month.
On air: Skip Waverly, Lola Cruz and Hank Ledger on BBN TonightPublished
At a glance
- First reported by Wikipedia: “Tulip Mania”.
- Covered on BBN on Saturday, October 17, 2026, at 8:58 PM ET on BBN Tonight, by Skip Waverly, Lola Cruz and Hank Ledger.
The real story
The reporting behind this segment. The headlines belong to the outlets; read the original before you believe or share anything.
- WikipediaTulip Mania
What BBN said about it
Hank Ledger · Lead AnchorIn the Dutch Republic in sixteen thirty-seven, a single tulip bulb could cost more than ten times a skilled artisan's yearly income.
Hank Ledger · Lead AnchorThe priciest, the Semper Augustus, sold for ten thousand guilders at its peak, per Wikipedia. Skip and Lola have restaged it. Cardboard is involved.
Skip Waverly · Field CorrespondentBehold, good people of Holland, a single bulb! A jewel! A future desk anchor's dream!
Lola Cruz · Senior Field CorrespondentI'm the buyer. This sack is full of guilders. It's mostly socks, but nobody checks.
Skip Waverly · Field CorrespondentDo I hear three hundred guilders? That's a skilled artisan's entire year, folks!
Lola Cruz · Senior Field CorrespondentFour hundred. I've bought worse things in worse ports.
Skip Waverly · Field CorrespondentFive hundred! Six! The price board is climbing, and so is my career!
Lola Cruz · Senior Field CorrespondentThat board is a cardboard sign, Skip. You're just holding it higher.
Hank Ledger · Lead AnchorHigher.
Skip Waverly · Field CorrespondentNow the Semper Augustus! Ten thousand guilders! Look at those gorgeous streaks on the petals!
Lola Cruz · Senior Field CorrespondentThose streaks were a virus. The most beautiful flower in Holland was just sick.
Skip Waverly · Field CorrespondentA sick flower. I paid a mountain of goods for a sick flower!
Lola Cruz · Senior Field CorrespondentAnd it's February sixteen thirty-seven. The board is about to hit the floor.
Skip Waverly · Field CorrespondentOh no. The market collapsed. I'm holding a very expensive onion.
Hank Ledger · Lead AnchorThat really happened. The boom picked up speed in sixteen thirty-four and collapsed in a single month.
Skip Waverly · Field CorrespondentHank, from behind the curtain: does the desk job come with a bulb?
Hank Ledger · Lead AnchorThese days, it comes with cryptocurrency.
From the archive: everything BBN aired on Saturday, October 17, 2026 · the Weird News archive · all months
More in Weird News
All Weird News →
The BBN Mailbag: "What is I teach my little sister how to drive game?"
Viewers sent in three questions about video games and nuclear reactors through bbn.live; the desk answered every one with total seriousness and no…
Spoon, silver, made in Boston, 1760 to 1770
The Met dates this twenty-centimetre silver spoon to seventeen sixty through seventeen seventy, made in Boston; it is not for sale and has never…
Skip in Truth or Consequences, New Mexico
The New Mexico town was once called Hot Springs for its geothermal springs, and in twenty twenty it counted six thousand fifty-two residents; the…
How do owls turn their heads so far?
Owls have fourteen neck vertebrae to our seven, and eyes fixed in their sockets, so the whole head has to do the looking; they never needed a mirror.