ID this odd Carter dip pen?

[ardgedee]

Flea market find yesterday...

A small dip pen with prominent Carter's branding on the top and "Made in U.S.A." on the underside. The markings might have been filled with color at one time but I'm more inclined to believe the vestiges are just grime.
The nib is marked: "Signature 6 Made in U.S.A."
There's no feed nor indication there should be one. The nib can be very carefully slid out of the handle, but the handle looks like it had been moulded around the nib; there's some uncut flashing over the top of the nib metal.

It is short! A mere 85mm (3 3/8 in) from tip of nib to end of handle.
http://fpgeeks.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=10822&stc=1 http://fpgeeks.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=10823&stc=1

[Lady Onogaro]

That's interesting looking. Have you tried to write with it?

[ardgedee]

Not yet. I can say that you're seeing the condition I found it in, plus or minus a light dusting of tree pollen.

[ardgedee]

Answering my own question, possibly: It might have been part of an indelible ink kit for labeling clothing.

Browsing Ebay, there are a variety of Carter's Cloth Marking Kits, sometimes under the product name Quickset. They are all packaged with a small dip pen similar to this one. Some of the older ones are fairly elaborate, and come with additional doodads that I guess are used for stretching the cloth to make it easier to write on.

[Jeph]

I can tell you that the "Signature 6" nib is not unique to this pen. If it is like the one I have, the tipping is made from twisting the ends of the tines 90 degrees and rounding them off some. I remember something about it supposed to be able to be used through carbon paper. Mine was installed on a no-name US made pen.

I think you nailed the cloth marking thing. Interesting. Now go put your name in all of your clothes. Or, even better, go put somebody else's name in all of your clothes!