Posted 4 years ago
kwqd
(1122 items)
This is the old doorbell from my house from the 1930s. It has been painted over several times so the maker name on the outside is illegible, but the name and model are on the inside of the back plate. The electrical component screws onto the back plate, which is not shown, except for the portion with the manufacturer information stamped into it. It is a Rittenhouse Model 220. The Model 200 was called a "Twin Chime model" and this one has two chime plates in it. Mine has two plungers but one is stuck and I have not tried to free it up. Not sure what the difference was between the Model 200 and Model 220. I could not find any documentation for the Model 220 on line but the Model 200 is in the 1937 Rittenhouse catalog. Based to a response on another post I made for an piece of electrical gear I found mounted in my basement, it may be part of the doorbell system.
https://www.electrachime.net/compact-door-chimes/rittenhouse-twintone/
There is no doorbell or electrical category, so sticking this under Electronics....
https://www.collectorsweekly.com/stories/255338-sands-electric-company-telephone-apparat?in=activity
Thanks for taking a look at my Rittenhouse door chimes Watchsearcher, AnythingObscure, Thomas, Kevin, dav2no1 and Jenni!
Thanks for taking a look at my door chime fortapache!
We have the same doorbell chime. How did you get it off the wall?
I took it down years ago, so don't remember how it was attached. I probably took the cover off to reach screws that held it to the wall. The cover had been painted over many times so the cover probably just popped off. I can't believe that any screws would have been accessible due to all the paint on it. It could also be that the whole assembly just came off in one piece. Sorry, just don't remember how it was mounted. There were wires going into the wall...
I'm with you, Eileen. The house of my dreams has always been a pre-1900 house in walking distance to a county courthouse that sits in the middle of a green where I sit on a bench and tell war stories with other old farts and complain about "kids today". Now I have been in the house for 22 years! When I move, I will be looking for the same thing again. I am in walking distance of about anything I need.
I am guessing my doorbell fell into disuse due to the old knob and tube wiring that was used in my house into the early 1990s. Guessing they just didn't update the circuit to the doorbell when it was updated to Romex by the great grandson of the original owners.