It was worse than that. People were spending their entire life savings on forward options for a single rare bulb (options were actually invented at this time). There's a great little novel called, what else, "Tulip Mania", about it.
Dont laugh. Its not long since emus were selling in excess of US$20 000 per breeding pair in Texas, and they have about $200 of meat on them. When the bubble broke, they were left to fend for themselves, and you can find them running wild there.
