A transparent frame carton enclosure for retaining a carton of cigarette packages in side-by-side relationship is disclosed. The transparent frame carton enclosure allows the packages to be clearly evident and visible. The transparent frame carton enclosure has an upper frame portion which extends around the upper periphery of the plurality of packages and a lower frame portion which also extends along the lower periphery of the plurality of packages. The transparent frame carton enclosure also has an interconnection mechanism so that a number of the combined packages may be releasably interconnected with each other for stacking and interlocking. Further, the transparent frame carton enclosure may not extend along the top surface or bottom surface of the combined package unit so that they may readily be accessible for placement of additional material thereon. The carton enclosure also leaves the front surface of each of the plurality of packages unobstructed for application of additional printed material or advertisements thereon.

The present invention is directed to a system for packaging bottles having a neck portion. The system includes a tray unit and a bridge. The tray unit has a planar base, first and second opposite sidewalls, and first and second opposite end walls. The sidewalls and end walls extend outwardly from a periphery of the base and connect thereto to define a rectangular structure for holding a plurality of bottles arranged in a series of rows. The bridge has a central planar portion and a plurality of arcuate recesses extending into a periphery of the central planar portion. Each recess is sized to receive a neck portion of one of the bottles. A method of packaging bottles having neck portions is also disclosed.