# Standard Gravure

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{{Short description|Printing company in Kentucky, US (1922–1992)}}
{{Infobox company
| industry = Printing
| founded = 1922
| founder = [Robert Worth Bingham](/source/Robert_Worth_Bingham)
| defunct = 1992
| hq_location = [Louisville, Kentucky](/source/Louisville%2C_Kentucky)
}}
'''Standard Gravure''' was a [Louisville, Kentucky](/source/Louisville%2C_Kentucky) [rotogravure](/source/rotogravure) printing company founded in 1922 by [Robert Worth Bingham](/source/Robert_Worth_Bingham) and owned by the Bingham family. For decades, it printed the weekly ''[The Courier-Journal](/source/Courier_Journal)''<ref name=":1" /> as well as [rotogravure](/source/rotogravure) sections for other newspapers as well as ''[Parade](/source/Parade_(magazine))''.{{Citation needed|date=February 2024}}

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.{{Citation needed|date=February 2024}}

In 1986, Bingham family patriarch [Barry Bingham Sr](/source/Barry_Bingham_Sr.). announced the family would sell all their media holdings including Standard Gravure.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Jones |first=Alex S. |date=20 May 1986 |title=GANNETT GETS LOUISVILLE PAPERS FOR 300 MILLION |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1986/05/20/us/gannett-gets-louisville-papers-for-300-million.html |access-date=26 February 2024 |work=[The New York Times](/source/The_New_York_Times) |pages=1}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Wines |first=Michael |date=1986-01-19 |title=The Binghams of Louisville : Family Tragedy and Feuds Bring Down Media Empire |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1986-01-19-mn-1211-story.html |access-date=2024-02-26 |website=Los Angeles Times |language=en-US}}</ref> The employees of Standard Gravure made a bid to buy the company,{{Citation needed|date=February 2024}} but it was sold instead to Michael Shea from [Atlanta, Georgia](/source/Atlanta%2C_Georgia) for $22 million.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |date=2 June 1986 |title=Binghams Sell A TV Station |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1986/06/02/business/binghams-sell-a-tv-station.html |access-date=8 February 2024 |website=The New York Times}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=27 May 1986 |title=Binghams Sell Another Unit |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1986/05/27/business/binghams-sell-another-unit.html |access-date=26 February 2024 |work=[The New York Times](/source/The_New_York_Times) |pages=5}}</ref> In the same year, the family sold ''[The Louisville Courier-Journal](/source/Courier_Journal)'' and ''[The Louisville Times](/source/The_Louisville_Times)'' for $305 million to the [Gannett Company](/source/Gannett).<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1">{{Cite web |last=Peterson |first=Erica |last2=Gregory |first2=John |date=27 August 2018 |title=A Bingham Buys A Newspaper: The Life And Legacy Of Robert Worth Bingham |url=https://www.lpm.org/news/2018-08-27/a-bingham-buys-a-newspaper-the-life-and-legacy-of-robert-worth-bingham |access-date=16 February 2024 |website=Louisville Public Media}}</ref> After the sale the employees learned that $11 million of their employee pension fund had been used to help finance Shea's purchase.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=nqrjeYwa7foC&dq=standard+Gravure+-shooting&pg=PA180 Prozac backlash: overcoming the dangers of Prozac, Zoloft, Paxil, and other antidepressants with safe, effective alternatives], p. 179.</ref> The company had 531 employees at two plants at the time of the sale.{{Citation needed|date=March 2024}}

On September 14, 1989, Standard Gravure came to national attention when [Joseph T. Wesbecker](/source/Joseph_Wesbecker), an employee on [disability leave](/source/Disability_insurance), entered the plant with several firearms and [fired at employees for thirty minutes](/source/Standard_Gravure_shooting), injuring twelve and killing nine, including himself.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-04-10 |title=Bank shooting in Louisville brings memories of 1989 mass shooting at Standard Gravure |url=https://www.wdrb.com/news/bank-shooting-in-louisville-brings-memories-of-1989-mass-shooting-at-standard-gravure/article_a8154e70-d7fd-11ed-8c10-ff1d183df223.html |access-date=2024-02-08 |website=WDRB |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=2023-04-16 |title=One of America's first workplace shootings had an unlikely suspect: Prozac |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/2023/04/15/louisville-shooting-prozac-standard-gravure/ |access-date=2024-03-25 |work=Washington Post |language=en-US |issn=0190-8286}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2019-09-12 |title=Standard Gravure remembered: Here are all the victims from the 1989 mass shooting |url=https://www.courier-journal.com/in-depth/news/local/2019/09/12/louisvilles-standard-gravure-shooting-anniversary-all-victims/2284348001/ |access-date=2024-03-25 |website=www.courier-journal.com |language=en-us}}</ref>

Standard Gravure closed in February 1992, after two serious fires.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2013-09-19 |title=Painful Parallels Between Mass Shootings at Navy Yard and Standard Gravure in Louisville |url=https://www.lpm.org/news/2013-09-19/painful-parallels-between-mass-shootings-at-navy-yard-and-standard-gravure-in-louisville |access-date=2025-01-22 |website=Louisville Public Media |language=en}}</ref> The building at 6th and Broadway and part of the [Courier-Journal](/source/Courier-Journal) complex, was demolished and became a parking lot.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Kelly |first=Adrianne |date=2019-09-14 |title=This Day in History: 8 killed, 12 wounded in Standard Gravure shooting |url=https://www.wlky.com/article/this-day-in-history-8-killed-12-wounded-in-standard-gravure-shooting/29045612 |access-date=2025-01-22 |website=WLKY |language=en}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

#

Category:Defunct companies based in Louisville, Kentucky
Category:Printing companies of the United States
Category:Mass media companies established in 1922
Category:Mass media companies disestablished in 1992
Category:1922 establishments in Kentucky
Category:1992 disestablishments in Kentucky
Category:Courier Journal

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Standard Gravure](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Standard_Gravure) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Standard_Gravure?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.