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Anne Goldgar
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“high. If we compare them to contemporary commodity prices on the Amsterdam exchange, we find that for the fi,ooo one might pay in January 1637 for one hypothetical Admirael van der Eyck bulb, one could have bought 4,651 pounds of figs, or 3,448 pounds of almonds, or 5,633 pounds of raisins, or 370 pounds of cinnamon, or in tuns of Bordeaux. On a more everyday level for most Dutch people, fi,ooo would buy a modest house in Haarlem, or, if we look at consumables,11,587 kilos of rye bread, or 13.4 vats of butter, or 5,714 pounds of meat. Although we know little about wages in this period, we can establish the income of craftsmen and laborers to place against these figures. For the first half of the century, the figures were fairly static: a master carpenter in Alkmaar at this time made a little more than a guilder a day (24 stuivers), meaning that a tulip costing fi,ooo would cost him nearly three years' wages. This amount would have the purchasing power of €9,395.36, or around $12,000, in today's money.”
― Tulipmania: Money, Honor, and Knowledge in the Dutch Golden Age
― Tulipmania: Money, Honor, and Knowledge in the Dutch Golden Age
“Michiel Kistgens and Jan de Haes, brothers-in-law (and Mennonites), are one example of this dynamic. Among the numbers of Amsterdam merchants whom the Haarlemmer Hans Baert was chasing for payment in June 1637 were Kistgens and De Haes. On January 18 the pair had bought for f 1,25o an Admirael van der Eyck bulb weighing 18o asen. The bulb was at that moment growing in the garden of Jan Woutersz in Haarlem, and, like so many, they seem to have been reluctant to pay for their purchase.”
― Tulipmania: Money, Honor, and Knowledge in the Dutch Golden Age
― Tulipmania: Money, Honor, and Knowledge in the Dutch Golden Age
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