So, there *could* have been an electric doorbell ... they must have been
rich people (:


Not necessarily. There were quite a few in the comfortable, but not rich,
suburb I was brought up in, and they weren't expensive. They were thought a
bit poncy and in those days people spent far less money on things they didn't
really need. Just glad the bloody war was over.
I've never known Bakelite explode, by the way. You can get it a good deal
hotter than modern plastics such as polythene, polypropylene or PVC or even
nylon before it collapses. At a really high temperature it crumbles and
catches fire, but then so does everything.

Tudor Hughes (born 1942).