Though we associate tulips with flat-as-a-pancake Holland, they're actually mountain flowers, originating in the foothills of the Himalayas. The sultans of the Ottoman Empire were responsible for the first wave of tulipmania. These "exotic" blooms reached Holland by way of Prague in the 1590's. By the 1630's, they were no longer reserved only for royalty and the rich and the second wave of tulipmania was in full force.
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