CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS (Parenthetical) (USD $) In Thousands, except Share data	Sep. 30, 2011	Sep. 30, 2010
Current assets:
Allowance for doubtful accounts	$ 10,736	$ 11,261
Shareholders' equity-Matthews:
Preferred stock, par value (in dollars per share)	$ 100	$ 100
Preferred stock, authorized (in shares)	10,000	10,000
Preferred stock, issued (in shares)	0	0
Treasury stock, at cost (in shares)	7,884,190	6,855,669
Class A common stock [Member]
Shareholders' equity-Matthews:
Common stock, par value (in dollars per share)	$ 1.00	$ 1.00
Common stock, authorized (in shares)	70,000,000	70,000,000
Common stock, issued (in shares)	36,333,992	36,333,992