I met Ed Donaldson this week at his antique hardware shop. He has a great website you can look at for some ideas. He told me that old doorbells, the pull kind, were often connected to bells in different areas of the house and the cords were run through basements, etc.

My door knocker is audible in just about every part of the house. Otherwise, our dogs react so well to it, that I rarely miss a visitor! Maybe you could get a dog?

I don't know if they have what you want but take a look.
http://www.vandykes.com/subcategory/185/

We have a small brass ship's bell outside our door. You can hear it anywhere in our 3000 sq ft stone house. Mostly though, we just hear wheels on the gravel drive and closing car doors.

My daughter has the original bell to her 1870's townhouse. It is the kind that has a butterfly style turn knob on the outside of the door and a bell inside. It is loud.

Do you have a Restoration Hardware near you? We had the same problem and bought an antique brass bell. Here's the one we have: http://www.restorationhardware.com/page.jhtml?type=product&id=prod4040017&categoryId=cat970024

Here is a link that might be useful: Restoration Hardware

Rejuvenation has nice doorbells but might not be quite the vintage you need. I found a paintable doorbell for about $35 at a large, local independent lumber/hardware store. I didn't want to spend hundreds for a prominant one; I just wanted it to blend into the hallway wall. I don't know what it sounds like tho' since it is not yet hooked up. The big box stores and Ace just had the plastic ones.

Are you asking about the chime part? I've found several buttons I like from Rocky Mountain Hardware to Rejuvination, but finding a period "chime" for inside has been more difficult. The ring door chime linked below is the one I'm gonna order to check it out. It's not exactly what I had hoped for, but the closest I've uncovered. Maybe it's more what your looking for also.

Here is a link that might be useful: ring door chime

I don't need a button - just the thing that makes the sound. I have one button from Restoration Hardware similar to what Lisa pointed out and one that came with the house. What I need is the chimes and the box they come in. The wiring is all in place. Rejuvenation has a craftsman style and a 1930s deco style, but neither really fit my turn-of-the-century victorian. I'll check the lumber yard on my next trip. I've also considered just making a simple wood box with slits in it to go over the ugly plastic ones.

The Ed Donaldson website is interesting - lots to drool over!

I realize your not interested scc ms, but for anyone who is, after a new search I found the same door chime linked above at a discounted price, with free shipping and in a bronze finish...

Here is a link that might be useful: door chime

In further research, I did find something that might work - see the link below. The one quality I like of the "box store" chimes is that there is a different tone or number of ding-dongs for front and back doors. This would be helpful for my 3 doors, and doesn't look possible with the ones shown below. And I'm pretty sure I'm not willing to spring for multiple $100-250 bells of differing tones! More to figure out...

Here is a link that might be useful: Byron door chimes

Ask what the bell sounds like before buying online. I bought one at Rejuvenation and though it is a beautiful bell I'm disappointed with the sound. I thought it would have that distinct, two-tone "ding, dong" of old doorbells, but it actually sounds more like a bicycle bell: Brrrrng! I've kept it more than 90 days so now I'll have to ebay it.

Here are a couple places that sell great items.

www.vandykes.com

and

www.antiquehardware.com

Good luck.

I have an interesting doorbell. I'm pretty sure it was installed when the house was built. (1920ish, but it could be 1900ish) It's a fairly large clock mounted on the wall of the entry hall with three large brass chimes hanging down. It plays the clock song on the hour. The doorbell is wired into the clock so that when pressed, it triggers the chimes.

It's great, but the problem is it's all broken down. The clock movement stopped. The doorbell part still works, but you have to hold it down to play the chimes. If you press it and let go, you may not hear anything if you were stopped at a gap in the song.

I plan on taking it off the wall and tinkering with it. As a computer programmer, I'm going to connect the door bell into the house control pc when I get it set up. I want to tie in invisible cameras and intercoms so I can see who is at the door.

Someone mentioned a Brrring sound. We have one of those an
old one on back door. I think it was for the delivery man.
It makes me jump ten feet when anyone uses it.
I want to put in an invisible camera so I can see who is at the door also before I answer it. sheshe

I have a great brrrinng twist doorbell in my front door (1984 victorian) It scares the hec out of the cats, but my bigger problem is few people recognize it as the doorbell! Its a twistie knob in the middle of the door, and I even shined off the patina to make it more "noticeable". People look to the sides, (or assume its too old to work) then knock!

Just to offer a little historical perspective for those interested in historically correct details If I have my facts straight, NuTone introduced "musical chimes" in 1936. The style of these were often art deco, though neo-early american styles soon became hugely popular. A few mid-century modern styles were offered in the, you know, mid-century, followed by the ghastly era of plastic versions of neo-faux antiques and bland characterless boxes. Prior to the musical chimes of the late 1930's, any electrical door bells would have been the "buzzer" or "clanger" type. Of course, prior to electrification (late 19th century in the most advanced urban areas) the doorbell would have been the twisting or pull cord mechanical type. I have studied the long bell electric "musical chimes" extensively and am glad to advise anyone on all sorts of issues about them.

This vendor on e-Bay may have what you're looking for:

Here is a link that might be useful: e-bay vintage nutone

Check out ElectraChime. They specialize in long chime door bells that actually ring on long tubular bells. With a variety of period styles from StreamLine Moderne to Contemporary. Great products!

Here is a link that might be useful: Period Authentic Door Chimes