An egg carton having base and lid trays that when disposed in vertical alignment (with the lid tray on top of the base tray) form a closed egg carton. The base and lid trays each include a pair of mating handle components, such that when assembled to form a closed carton provide both enhanced strength and ease of carrying the assembled carton. The handles also facilitate handling of the base and lid trays separately during manufacture, packing and transport, and during and after filling the base with eggs. The new base, lid and carton assembly are particularly useful when adapted for holding more than a dozen eggs, for example when holding 30 or more eggs in a rectilinear array of egg cells (arranged in linear rows and transverse linear columns), such as a 5×6 array of egg cells. The lid may further include a labeling area above a select portion of the base cells, the labeling area comprising a flat panel top wall and a depending sidewall forming an empty interior cavity below the top wall, for insertion of labeling material.