Trade and traderoutes in M-E

[Inziladun]

Originally Posted by Legate of Amon Lanc

Wood Elves? No way. They could not even make a wok pan, the more something as complicated as clock. I agree that clock feels a bit too fine on first sight, but then, Dwarves were the master craftsmen, and their honed gems were a work of fine art, for one. Nay, the Dwarves were the ones making the clock... only by the time the West-East route was reestablished, they began to import cuckoos from Mirkwood into their clock, but that's all

The bit about the Mirkwood Elves was tongue-in-cheek: a reference to Bored of the Rings.
I still wonder about the Dwarves trading much with hobbits.

'And look at the outlandish folk that visit [Bilbo]: dwarves coming at night, and that old wandering conjuror Gandalf, and all.'

An odd-looking waggon laden with odd-looking packages rolled into Hobbiton one evening. The startled hobbits peered out of lamplit doors to gape at it. It was driven by outlandish folk, singing strange songs: dwarves with long beards and deep hoods.

FOTR A Long-Expected Party

If hobbits were accustomed to trade with dwarves, why were they 'startled', and thinking the dwarves 'outlandish'?

'[Bilbo] was already growing a bit queer, they said, and went off for days by himself. He could be seen talking to strangers, even Dwarves.'

UT The Quest of Erebor

'Even Dwarves'? Hobbits don't seem to have thought much of Dwarves; just odd people who used the Road through the Shire.
In fact, the Shire-folk seemed extremely insular, regarding even distant relatives living in Bree with distrust.