Pregled posta

Marketing

Commercial Tulip History

1574 - Selim II of Turkey sent an order to the Sherriff of Aziz for 50,000 bulbs. There is no doubt that commercial production of this plant was in full swing in Turkey at this time if that was the size of orders they could handle.

While the first "tulipmania" was in Holland in 1634-37, a second and equally interesting one occured in Turkey during the reign of Ahmed III in 1702-20. In both countries, bulbs were sold for incredible prices and fortunes made (and lost) overnight on speculating in bulbs.

There are entire books written about these "tulipmanias" that need not be repeated in a short history.

One brief story I will pass along is that during World War Two, the Dutch Royal Family fled to Ottawa, Canada as a safe haven. When the future Queen was to be born, the Canadian government passed a law making the hospital area officially Dutch Territory so the baby girl could be born on Dutch soil. In gratitude, the family has been sending tulips to Ottawa for years now and the Ottawa Tulip Festival with its over 1 million blooms is one of the finest shows outside of Holland.

“Time doesn't always heal: it just breathes and swallows memories like the seasons change - sending showers; beating flowers into the mud. And nothing is forever in this place."

As much as i want to think that i'm healed, sometimes i lie awake at night with terrible memories of France and Kitchens and Disappointments spinning in my head and i wonder if it will always be like this, me trying so hard to dance in the flowers, only to be consumed by the mud all over again. It is a new season, but i'm still fighting to breath, when will it ever be sunny again?