Trade and traderoutes in M-E

[Legate of Amon Lanc]

Originally Posted by Inziladun

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

You just say it yourself:

Originally Posted by Inziladun

In fact, the Shire-folk seemed extremely insular, regarding even distant relatives living in Bree with distrust.

That's it. For the Hobbits, anybody from the outside was queer. Hey, even farmer Maggot was queer for people from Hobbitton, and vice versa! I think just a person who had regular contact with Dwarves, like Bilbo, would be considered weird - but there had to be some trade between the Dwarves and Hobbits, it may not have been anything long-time established, but just those guys who would journey through the Shire would sell their goods, and there will be a few "a bit queer" Hobbits having long-time trade relations with the Dwarves, and those would make their goods available further in the Shire.