“Hatchet-faced nutmeg dealer”- Stephen Douglas on Abraham Lincoln, from this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y_zTN4BXvYI
So, how were spice dealers viewed at that time? Any specific reason nutmeg dealers were singled out?
Nutmeg dealers were often accused of selling fake nutmegs made out of wood, so they got the reputation of being frauds and shysters. That’s also why Connecticut got the nickname “The Nutmeg State”, because merchants from Connecticut supposedly did that.
It may be apocryphal, but in school in CT (the nutmeg state), we learned that some nutmeg dealers would carve nutmegs out of wood to cheat their customers. Apparently they amassed quite a reputation, and being called a nutmeg dealer would therefore mean that you were a fraud and a cheat.