Protective tray

A tray, formed from a unitary blank of foldable paperboard, for holding a plurality of packaged, fragile articles, such as taco shells, in a nested relationship, comprising:

• (a) a bottom wall having an end wall and pair of side walls foldably joined to and upstanding from opposed end and side edges thereof to form a tray-like structure;
• (b) a plurality of longitudinally spaced opending disposed in said side walls for receiving and retaining opposed end portions of said packaged articles in spaced relation;
• (c) a pair of relatively narrow, elongated support panels hingedly attached to said end wall adjacent opposite ends thereof, said support panels foldable inwardly from the end wall to be received within portions of the end-most packaged articles to maintain them in position and to prevent them from being crushed;
• and
• (d) means foldable out of said bottom wall for supporting other portions of said packaged articles.