The marks come from the top of the hat, hitting the bottom of the shipping box. To get rid of them, take a medium stiff brush, and brush them off. Beaver fur will show up stuff like this, more so than rabbit will. Wetting the area probably would not help, as the nap has been pressed down in those areas, so, you just have to fluff the nap back up, with a brush. Water would probably compound it, as water can lay the nap down too.
I get the same marks when I lay my hat down on a table, as I always lay it down on the top of the crown. I just never pay them any mind as they generally go away when I wear it. But, I don't really take care of my own hats either. I just throw them around, and don't worry about little distess marks. But, that's just me. I know some guys really tend to their hats, I just don't. I reckon this comes with knowing alot about the bodies that I use, and there is little you can do to damage the hats, so I treat em pretty rough.
I can't count the number of times my youngest grandson will grab my hat, off my head, put it on, and then use it as any kid would do. Stomp on it, throw it around, etc. Some guys would just go nuts with this sort of treatment. But knowing there is nothing he can do to hurt the hat, has alot to do with it too. Needless to say, once I get it back from him, I always have to put the creases back in!!
Getting the sticky candy off, well, that's easy too. A bit of lighter fluid, on a rag suffices quite well.
I generally cut the inserts tall enough to keep the top of the crown off the bottom of the box. But, every now and then, I may cut one too short. Or, it was tall enough, and somewhere along the shipping line, the top is compressed in, which would cause the hat to be pushed down to the bottom. It doesn't happen often, but it will happen at times.
The good thing is, while it can be a nusance, when it does happen, the hat is not hurt at all. But, if you have a customer who has never re-creased a hat, that person can panic. Because, many times, the creases that I put in are somewhat knocked out in shipping. The only way for this not to happen is to put so much shellac in the hats that nothing will change the crease job. But then, you are wearing a cowboy hat, not a fedora.
Hope that brush tip solves the problem Bruce. It has always worked for me. Fedora
? 
![[[img]http://i193.photobucket.com/album ... .jpg[/img]](%5B%5Bimg%5Dhttp%3A//i193.photobucket.com/albums/z145/indianacroft/P10503066.jpg%5B/img%5D/url%5D%0A%0A%5Burl%5D%5Bimg%5Dhttp://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z145/indianacroft/AB1streblkRAVENcentered.jpg%5B/img%5D){kind=link}