There are numerous manufactured products which are of an extended length, e.g., over eight feet in length, which are not self-supporting and which require packaging for storage and shipment. For example, thin, light-weight aluminum and plastic extrusions of eight feet or greater length are not self-supporting; and, thus when the product is lifted, it bends or kinks at one or more points along its length. With aluminum and plastic extrusions, the bending and kinking can produce a permanent defect in the product making it unusable for sale for its intended purpose. One example of such a product are thin-slat venetian blinds, commonly called mini-blinds, which are often manufactured in lengths over eight feet to span a window over eight feet in width or to be oriented vertically in a window eight or more feet high. These blinds are typically shipped in cardboard packaging which, of course, have a length equal to or greater than the length of the blind. In the process of transporting the packaging, if it is lifted at one end, the weight of the blind causes kinking of the packaging along its length and in turn kinking of the blinds. That is, the box does not have sufficient strength to support the product contained therein and in turn will deform and kink, and kink the product. Typically, for example, in a four-sided box, the sides have a tendency to deform into a parallelogram resulting in bending of the box at some point along its length.