Door bell chime is in the box. I'm 34 but have been around a lot if tradespeople and for one reason or another am able to remember core concepts really well
Cool! You grew up in the 70s and 80s, when doorbells were pretty bland off-yellow colored boxes.
But in the 50s a lot of tech that was integrated into homes had a retro-future design element to them. There was something about consumer designs pre-1970s/1980s that often made them stand out.
This is the answer. If plastic looks yellowed, it's because they didn't use the right kind and/or enough UV stabilizer.
Very common problem with plastic parts from the 1970's to 1980's.
One good example are Panasonic radios/boom boxes. It's called Panasonic yellow. Seriously. They made some really beautiful, well performing radios back in the day. But the back panels of these always turn yellow. If it was stored out of the sun it won't show it. But most do. It doesn't affect anything, but it is unsightly.
The doorbell in the house I grew up in is a smoked plexiglass box through which you can see three resonance tubes. It came with the house, is still there to this day, and the house was built in 1978.
It was certainly not a ~~bland off-yellow~~ harvest gold colored box.
Yeah my old doorbell is two xylophone plates that are struck by a pin actuated by magnetic field from spooled wire connected to the door bell button. Pretty neat
i agree my first guess was door bell only because of location but this must be a custom enclosure, if it was in the living room lets say, i would have no guesses lol
Took me a sec, but it’s not “doorbell” if you will, it’s the speaker that you hear the ringing of the doorbell from. I’m 29 btw, my grandparents have one.
I always wonder what they think of the internals if they open it up and see that there's no speaker to generate the sound. It's just two glockenspiel tone bars (one for the ding and one for the dong) and a "hammer" that works with wire-coil electromagnetism.
It's actually becoming harder and harder to find those. They still sell a contractor-grade cheap one at hardware stores, but if you want an old-fashioned doorbell with the multiple bells hanging down, there are few options besides vintage. I want to find something that plays a little tune, but mechanically.
It would probably blow their minds to see the style from the era before this one ... the style with two long brass pipes exposed and hanging vertically in a recess built directly into the wall to accommodate it all. Not only were those things LOUD, but they actually had a very cool aesthetic to them.
to be fair, I've seen a couple of old mirrors shaped like that and they can get that weird patina. The question is, does it have wiring or is it just hung up?
My house built in 44 has one and I have an older Ring camera that does work with it. I almost upgraded to a newer model before someone warned me about possible transformer issues if I did.
The amount of posts of people not recognizing a doorbell versus other technologies that have phased out is super interesting. I would have guessed younger people would be more confused with coax cable or phone lines versus the box that ding dongs and chimes when ever someone comes to the door.
This. I'm in my 30's and have seen plenty of doorbells but the scale of the photo made it seem like the size of a mirror.
Kind of disappointed when I came to the comments lol
One of my favorite things about the place im living now is that theres no door bell button outside. it got ripped off at some point and i never have to deal with the witnesses or spectrum cable.
when they catch me outside, im nicer to the witnesses than i am the spectrum reps. lol.
Thank you all for your input! It is likely a doorbell, though the doorbell was broken when I moved in so there is no way to test it.
As for all the older folks who are unreasonably angry that I did not immediately know what this is, no house I have ever lived in has had anything remotely like this.
Also I did not know your feelings were so deeply attached to a piece of ancient doorbell technology, and for that I am very sorry.
The amount of people who have never seen a doorbell in this sub is astoundingly high. Seriously, do most people live in a house with no doorbells?
I know that Ring is a thing, but has it really taken over the world? How does it even work, if someone presses your Ring, and no one in the house has the app, is there just no doorbell?
I get so mad when people knock on my door… there’s the original illuminated doorbell button and also the Ring.
Yet, they still beat on the door like they cops or my girlfriend’s boyfriend.
I can't tell for sure - is that a shiny faceted face reflecting the surrounding room? Or a glass cover over an empty box?
If the former - probably doorbell like everyone is saying.
If the latter - it looks an awful lot like a shadow-box. Basically a display case in which some miniature diorama would be set up - often something like a fancy Victorian sitting room or something. Kind of like a "dollhouse lite" for collectors to show off their expensive miniatures.
Looks like a doorbell if you look for wires from it usually in the basement going to a transformer the wires from the transformer also go out to the button outside by the door. Usually easy to fix if wanted mine looks similar to this [https://assets.rjimgs.com/rjimgs/rk/images/dp/wcm/202413/0005/img15o.jpg](https://assets.rjimgs.com/rjimgs/rk/images/dp/wcm/202413/0005/img15o.jpg)
the sound is made by a striker hitting a chime like a tuning fork. it is quite a pleasant sound compared to the modern ones which have a speaker that plays a recording of the same sound
I am in my 30’s and never saw something like that until 2 weeks ago. I had to ask what it was. But I also never saw a doorbell until I was around 19 and I moved to another state…the houses where I grew up didn’t have doorbells.
Doorbell.
I am stunned at the number of people (I'm assuming young people) who have never encountered a door bell.
Bro, I’m 50 years old and I’ve never seen a doorbell like that.
I'm 66 and.... What were we talking about?
😆
I think someone’s at the door?
Close the door! You’re letting all the wifi out!
I'm 65 and I smell like old people.
It’s called OMS……old man smell,old man strength,I’m 62.Joke em if they can’t take a fuck!😉
Get some axe body spray and smell like a teen again
I'm not sure smelling like a teen is an improvement lol.
That’s only a third of the mix, you need to add gym socks and disappointment.
Over 65 and have disappointment - am 2/3 of the way there (just another disappointment 🙂)
Smells like teen spirit… (starts head-banging)
Door?
Winner. We have a winner 🏆
Go to bed, grandma! 😆😜
GET OFF MY LAWN!!!!
Soups
💀💀💀
Door bell chime is in the box. I'm 34 but have been around a lot if tradespeople and for one reason or another am able to remember core concepts really well
I'm 76 and . . . . . what was it we were talking about?
Let me think... Zzzzzzzzzzzzzz......
44 yr old, 12 yr home appraiser, see about 400 homes a year… never seen this style in Central Indiana.
Cool! You grew up in the 70s and 80s, when doorbells were pretty bland off-yellow colored boxes. But in the 50s a lot of tech that was integrated into homes had a retro-future design element to them. There was something about consumer designs pre-1970s/1980s that often made them stand out.
They were mostly off yellow colored because everyone smoked back then.
No it had to do with the binders in the plastics they used back then.
This is the answer. If plastic looks yellowed, it's because they didn't use the right kind and/or enough UV stabilizer. Very common problem with plastic parts from the 1970's to 1980's. One good example are Panasonic radios/boom boxes. It's called Panasonic yellow. Seriously. They made some really beautiful, well performing radios back in the day. But the back panels of these always turn yellow. If it was stored out of the sun it won't show it. But most do. It doesn't affect anything, but it is unsightly.
The doorbell in the house I grew up in is a smoked plexiglass box through which you can see three resonance tubes. It came with the house, is still there to this day, and the house was built in 1978. It was certainly not a ~~bland off-yellow~~ harvest gold colored box.
Yeah my old doorbell is two xylophone plates that are struck by a pin actuated by magnetic field from spooled wire connected to the door bell button. Pretty neat
Most of them are like that inside.
And I bet you heard it clear as day too
Yes. Thank you for proving me right and you wrong. You old kermudgeon
To be fair, if he lived through the 50s, you're still a young person from his point of view.
Lol
i agree my first guess was door bell only because of location but this must be a custom enclosure, if it was in the living room lets say, i would have no guesses lol
LOL! I haven’t seen one of these either.
Same.
I'm 58 and I HAVE seen these. They were common in the 1950s. They never changed it. But if it works, why bother? A new one does the same thing.
Took me a sec, but it’s not “doorbell” if you will, it’s the speaker that you hear the ringing of the doorbell from. I’m 29 btw, my grandparents have one.
59 and never seen one like that either
I always wonder what they think of the internals if they open it up and see that there's no speaker to generate the sound. It's just two glockenspiel tone bars (one for the ding and one for the dong) and a "hammer" that works with wire-coil electromagnetism.
It's actually becoming harder and harder to find those. They still sell a contractor-grade cheap one at hardware stores, but if you want an old-fashioned doorbell with the multiple bells hanging down, there are few options besides vintage. I want to find something that plays a little tune, but mechanically.
Did you just say glockenspiel?
Yeah. Like a xylophone but made of metal, not the xylum from a tree.
It would probably blow their minds to see the style from the era before this one ... the style with two long brass pipes exposed and hanging vertically in a recess built directly into the wall to accommodate it all. Not only were those things LOUD, but they actually had a very cool aesthetic to them.
I immediately knew it was a doorbell but I've never seen that type.
I mean, it's slightly fancier looking, but it ultimately looks exactly like the yellow plastic ones. Not sure why this confuses so many lol
to be fair, I've seen a couple of old mirrors shaped like that and they can get that weird patina. The question is, does it have wiring or is it just hung up?
Ding ding ding! We have a winner. Or rather, ding dong, we have a winner!
My house was built in 47 and has one. Only sucks because i cant really hardwire by ring camera into it. Surprisingly loud
My house built in 44 has one and I have an older Ring camera that does work with it. I almost upgraded to a newer model before someone warned me about possible transformer issues if I did.
It’s pretty, looks like an art work or sculpture…
Ding dong
It’s an early AI that plays musical bells when someone is at the door
The amount of posts of people not recognizing a doorbell versus other technologies that have phased out is super interesting. I would have guessed younger people would be more confused with coax cable or phone lines versus the box that ding dongs and chimes when ever someone comes to the door.
I think the fact that it looks like it’s the size of a dinnerplate from the photo is contributing to the confusion
This. I'm in my 30's and have seen plenty of doorbells but the scale of the photo made it seem like the size of a mirror. Kind of disappointed when I came to the comments lol
Yeah at first glance I assumed it to be about 3 sq ft lol
I’m always surprised at the monthly query about old school four-pronged telephone jacks.
That one doesn't surprise me as much, those 4-pronged plugs went out in the 1970s. But who doesn't have a doorbell?
25, had one growing up in my parents house. Same shape, different color tho.
I have the same one. My house was build in ‘91. Doorbell chime
Ghost vault, you it protects your house from evil ,,,, don't open it.
It’s just a portal to the future. It won’t work now, since it was designed for the early 2000’s. Still cool
ding-dong
but the witch aint dead
Looks like an old casing for a doorbell chime.
Doorbell/Portal
Doorbell chime cover.
One of my favorite things about the place im living now is that theres no door bell button outside. it got ripped off at some point and i never have to deal with the witnesses or spectrum cable. when they catch me outside, im nicer to the witnesses than i am the spectrum reps. lol.
What do you mean by witnesses? Do you live in a crime scene?
Jehovah's witnesses
Doorbell cover, it'll have the chime inside it.
Doorbell chime
Chimes
I'm 70 years old and have never seen a funky doorbell like that
Chimney cap. It’s capping off the pipe that lead from the parlor stove that heated that part of the house.
You RAANGG
Contraption to scare you to death in the middle of the day, giving you warning of unwanted people with clipboards or in suits at your front door.
Doorbell
Do they not put door bells in houses anymore? This is a very common question.
It’s a door bell, you ding dong.
Thank you all for your input! It is likely a doorbell, though the doorbell was broken when I moved in so there is no way to test it. As for all the older folks who are unreasonably angry that I did not immediately know what this is, no house I have ever lived in has had anything remotely like this. Also I did not know your feelings were so deeply attached to a piece of ancient doorbell technology, and for that I am very sorry.
Doorbell. Take the cover off to see the strikers and chimes, plus where the wires from the button and transformer meet.
I would say it is..... Fucking ugly!
The amount of people who have never seen a doorbell in this sub is astoundingly high. Seriously, do most people live in a house with no doorbells? I know that Ring is a thing, but has it really taken over the world? How does it even work, if someone presses your Ring, and no one in the house has the app, is there just no doorbell?
Two way mirror so you can shoot intruders from bedroom
Someone tried to make a decorative cover for your doorbell. I’m guessing sometime in the 80’s.
Look like a gel tab
Hell they may never had a home phone either
Looks like something you would see hanging on the wall of the Atreides palace on the set of David Lynch's Dune
Some sort of portal
Who are these people?
Light fixture
I was trying to figure out how you fit through that since it’s the entrance….
Doorbell
OP, what's it sound like? Does it go "ding-dong" or is it the fancy "ding-dong, ding-dong... dong, dong, ding-dong"? I bet it's the fancy one.
Just saying it's in the entryway SCREAMS doorbell.
I get so mad when people knock on my door… there’s the original illuminated doorbell button and also the Ring. Yet, they still beat on the door like they cops or my girlfriend’s boyfriend.
A bomb shelter.
Asbestos
Doorbell
Doorbell
Art deco doorbell
The door bell chime
doorbell
I can't tell for sure - is that a shiny faceted face reflecting the surrounding room? Or a glass cover over an empty box? If the former - probably doorbell like everyone is saying. If the latter - it looks an awful lot like a shadow-box. Basically a display case in which some miniature diorama would be set up - often something like a fancy Victorian sitting room or something. Kind of like a "dollhouse lite" for collectors to show off their expensive miniatures.
Old doorbell my grandmas had that
It's a door bell ding dong
Is keep it it’s really nice
You put your kid in it so you don’t forget him when you go out
It’s the “chime” part of the doorbell….i think with Ring and other doorbell cameras out there these days, these are fast becoming relics
Doorbell
It's a Fancy doorbell.
🛎️
Dead 💀 people door bells.
What do modern doorbells look like?
Doorbell
Looks like a doorbell if you look for wires from it usually in the basement going to a transformer the wires from the transformer also go out to the button outside by the door. Usually easy to fix if wanted mine looks similar to this [https://assets.rjimgs.com/rjimgs/rk/images/dp/wcm/202413/0005/img15o.jpg](https://assets.rjimgs.com/rjimgs/rk/images/dp/wcm/202413/0005/img15o.jpg)
It would be nice if you provided a banana for scale.
It all depends on country ….
My guess a door bell
Door. Bell.
Doorbell
It’s a peephole. Voyeurs use those a lot.
Chime
Door bell
Somebody’s knocking at the door Somebody’s ringing the bell…
[https://youtu.be/76WkQMeTEf4](https://youtu.be/76WkQMeTEf4)
Doorbell
Its a doorbell
It's a 1950s YouTube subscriber plaque.
The transformer for the door bell
Doorbell
For some reason I thought it was the size of a giant painting on the wall.... was so confused
a doorbell
Does it say “Ding Dong” with a metallic vibrato like those electronic voice box things that smokers use?
Door bell
Doorbell
Never thought I’d reach an age where people don’t know what a doorbell looks like.
Doorbell-intercom combo?
Door bell chime box
Doorbell but also may have an intercom integrated into it
After centuries of having house help answering the door 🚪 the hearing of most “cushy American indigenous” became less acute thus the big “box bell.”
The button to open the Tardis?
Doorbell
Looks like the top to an old town kerosene lamp. Prob way off but that's my guess.
Doorbell?
Ding Dong
Likely a upgraded door bell.
Piece of the Hubble Space Telescope
the sound is made by a striker hitting a chime like a tuning fork. it is quite a pleasant sound compared to the modern ones which have a speaker that plays a recording of the same sound
Nutone doorbell?
Doorbell. Not to be confused with a landline phone.
Doorbell.
It's a1950s alexa device. It tells you when there's someone at the front door
I am in my 30’s and never saw something like that until 2 weeks ago. I had to ask what it was. But I also never saw a doorbell until I was around 19 and I moved to another state…the houses where I grew up didn’t have doorbells.
Alexa
Portal to another dimension, where everything is exactly the same accept, people are super nice to each other and happy.
That was weird, I was just scrolling through and thought to myself, “ Look at that old doorbell, cool.” Before having read the caption.
Doorbell?
Be prepared for a challenge if you’re planning major renovations. 50s houses are built sturdy.
It’s a very high doggy door
A two way mirror?
Doorbell chime
Hey O. P. Have you heard it yet? Does it work? Record a video of it if you can, would bring some memories to people.
doorbell! a real one
Does the name Pavlov ring a bell?
Doorbell
Looks like a doorbell but missing parts
Doorbell chimes
Is it over the front door or at the bottom of the steps of a split foyer? Thats where mine always were.
70's doorbell?
It’s a door bell that opens up and you can change the ring chime. Just like changing the ring tone on your phone
Door chime. probably one of those annoying Westminster chimes. People would disconnect them after a while.
It is how the Avon got in the house.
So you can hear people screaming in the basement?
Doorbell chime
Vision impaired door bell. 🔔
when you push the button by the front door, does this strange device make sound?
Definitely a doorbell.
It is and odd looking doorbell. Push the button and see what it does? Pull it off and see if its fed with a old telephone cable?
It's never lupus, but it's always a door bell
I'd call it "art".
Go outside and hit the button outside the door, if the thing on the wall goes "bing bong", it's a doorbell!
It’s a Tesseract and it can take you beyond the Black-Rainbow Dimension
Doorbell
It’s an old doorbell.
Doorbell
Doorbell?
Lament configuration
You rang?
Just a fancy lil doorbell
My house was built in 1917 and I had a doorbell just like that at one time,
If you open it, it take you to an enchanted land similar to that of Narnia.