Standard Gravure
Encyclopedia
Standard Gravure was a Louisville, Kentucky
rotogravure
printing company founded in 1922 by Robert Worth Bingham
and owned by the powerful Bingham family. For decades, it printed the weekly The Courier-Journal Magazine as well as rotogravure sections for other newspapers as well as Parade
. It was believed to be more profitable than the daily papers owned by Bingham.
By the 1980s, a shrinking print market had reduced revenues, and an employee wage freeze was instituted by then President William E. Bockmon in 1982.
In 1986, Bingham family patriarch Barry Bingham Sr. announced the family would sell all their media holdings including Standard Gravure. The employees of Standard Gravure made a bid to buy the company, but it was sold instead to Michael Shea from Atlanta, Georgia
for $22 million. After the sale the employees learned that $11 million of their employee pension fund had been used to help finance Shea's purchase. Prozac backlash: overcoming the dangers of Prozac, Zoloft, Paxil, and other antidepressants with safe, effective alternatives, p. 179.
The company had 531 employees at two plants at the time of the sale.
On September 14, 1989, Standard Gravure came to national attention when Joseph T. Wesbecker, an employee on disability leave, entered the plant with several firearms and fired at employees for thirty minutes, injuring twelve and killing eight plus himself. (See Standard Gravure shooting
.)
Standard Gravure closed in February 1992, after two serious fires. The building, at 6th and Broadway and part of the Courier-Journal complex, was demolished and became a parking lot.
Louisville, Kentucky
Louisville is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kentucky, and the county seat of Jefferson County. Since 2003, the city's borders have been coterminous with those of the county because of a city-county merger. The city's population at the 2010 census was 741,096...
rotogravure
Rotogravure
Rotogravure is a type of intaglio printing process; that is, it involves engraving the image onto an image carrier...
printing company founded in 1922 by Robert Worth Bingham
Robert Worth Bingham
Robert Worth Bingham was a politician, judge, newspaper publisher and United States Ambassador to the United Kingdom. He attended the University of North Carolina and University of Virginia but did not graduate. He moved to Louisville in the 1890s and received a law degree from the University of...
and owned by the powerful Bingham family. For decades, it printed the weekly The Courier-Journal Magazine as well as rotogravure sections for other newspapers as well as Parade
Parade (magazine)
Parade is an American nationwide Sunday newspaper magazine, distributed in more than 500 newspapers in the United States. It was founded in 1941 and is owned by Advance Publications. The most widely read magazine in the U.S., Parade has a circulation of 32.2 million and a readership of nearly 70...
. It was believed to be more profitable than the daily papers owned by Bingham.
By the 1980s, a shrinking print market had reduced revenues, and an employee wage freeze was instituted by then President William E. Bockmon in 1982.
In 1986, Bingham family patriarch Barry Bingham Sr. announced the family would sell all their media holdings including Standard Gravure. The employees of Standard Gravure made a bid to buy the company, but it was sold instead to Michael Shea from Atlanta, Georgia
Atlanta, Georgia
Atlanta is the capital and most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia. According to the 2010 census, Atlanta's population is 420,003. Atlanta is the cultural and economic center of the Atlanta metropolitan area, which is home to 5,268,860 people and is the ninth largest metropolitan area in...
for $22 million. After the sale the employees learned that $11 million of their employee pension fund had been used to help finance Shea's purchase. Prozac backlash: overcoming the dangers of Prozac, Zoloft, Paxil, and other antidepressants with safe, effective alternatives, p. 179.
The company had 531 employees at two plants at the time of the sale.
On September 14, 1989, Standard Gravure came to national attention when Joseph T. Wesbecker, an employee on disability leave, entered the plant with several firearms and fired at employees for thirty minutes, injuring twelve and killing eight plus himself. (See Standard Gravure shooting
Standard Gravure shooting
The Standard Gravure shooting occurred on September 14, 1989 when 47-year old Joseph T. Wesbecker, a pressman on disability for mental illness entered Standard Gravure, his former workplace, and killed eight people and injured twelve before committing suicide after a history of suicidal ideation...
.)
Standard Gravure closed in February 1992, after two serious fires. The building, at 6th and Broadway and part of the Courier-Journal complex, was demolished and became a parking lot.