Given that the history of long-ago bubbles is well covered by many detailed accounts, there is no need to cover the same ground in great depth. Various high and low points in the colorful history of Wall Street are also reviewed in books such as those by Thomas (1967 [2001]) and by Geisst (2004). The following bubbles, however, were all significant financial events at the time of their occurrence and serve as archetypes.

Tulips

The relatively new and sophisticated financial structure that had evolved in the Netherlands circa 1600 enabled tulip bulbs to become the object of frenzied and rapid bidding by a wide range of public participants. Just prior to the mania, bulbs were not priced much above other rare plants. Yet once wealthy families began to use ownership of bulbs as a means of conveying their social status, prices of rare specimens began to quickly rise. Earlier eras might have contained bubble-like incidents or precursors, but with the appearance of notarized written contracts, fully documentable price records relating to broad public participation became available.

The economic consequences of the rising interest in tulip cultivation were, however, initially benign; growers of the 1620s had to develop new commercial and industrial skills that involved harvesting, picking, packaging, storage and security, and shipping to handle the rapidly expanding tulip trade.