Condensed Consolidated Statements of Shareholders' Equity - USD ($)	Common Stock [Member] Class A [Member]	Common Stock [Member] Class B [Member]	Capital in Excess of Par Value [Member]	Retained Earnings [Member]	Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income (Loss) [Member]	Treasury Stock [Member]	Noncontrolling Interest [Member]	Total
Balance at Jul. 31, 2015	$ 30	$ 14	$ 16,575	$ 23,246	$ (1,726)	$ (1,224)	$ 3,570
Balance (in shares) at Jul. 31, 2015	3,023,206	1,370,519				107,046
Increase (Decrease) in Stockholders' Equity [Roll Forward]
Net income (loss)	$ 0	$ 0	0	887	0	$ 0	(278)
Foreign currency translation adjustment	0	0	0	0	(438)	0	(119)
Cash dividends declared	0	0	0	(1,895)	0	0	0
Unrealized investment gains, net	0	0	0	0	21	0	0
Conversion of Class B common stock to Class A common stock	$ 0	$ 0	0	0	0	$ 0	0
Conversion of Class B common stock to Class A common stock (in shares)	12,572	(12,572)				0
Issuance of stock under stock award plan	$ 0	$ 0	(6)	0	0	$ 52	0
Issuance of stock under stock award plan (in shares)	0	0				(4,533)
Share-based compensation expense	$ 0	$ 0	37	0	0	$ 0	0
Distributions to noncontrolling interests	0	0	0	0	0	0	(530)
Sale of majority-owned subsidiary	0	0	0	0	0	0	(310)
Purchase of additional noncontrolling interests	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Stock award plan forfeitures	$ 0	$ 0	0	0	0	$ 0	0
Stock award plan forfeitures (in shares)	0	0				1,560
Balance at Jul. 31, 2016	$ 30	$ 14	16,606	22,238	(2,143)	$ (1,172)	2,333	$ 37,905,000
Balance (in shares) at Jul. 31, 2016	3,035,778	1,357,947				104,073
Increase (Decrease) in Stockholders' Equity [Roll Forward]
Net income (loss)	$ 0	$ 0	0	888	0	$ 0	(38)	850,000
Foreign currency translation adjustment	0	0	0	0	8	0	46	54,000
Cash dividends declared								0
Unrealized investment gains, net	0	0	0	0	(11)	0	0	(11,000)
Issuance of stock under stock award plan	$ 0	$ 0	(5)	0	0	$ 50	0
Issuance of stock under stock award plan (in shares)	0	0				(4,450)
Tax impact of share based compensation	$ 0	$ 0	(6)	0	0	$ 0	0
Tax impact of noncontrolling interests	0	0	0	(24)	0	0	24
Distributions to noncontrolling interests	0	0	0	0	0	0	(3)
Balance at Oct. 29, 2016	$ 30	$ 14	$ 16,595	$ 23,102	$ (2,146)	$ (1,122)	$ 2,362	$ 38,835,000
Balance (in shares) at Oct. 29, 2016	3,035,778	1,357,947				99,623