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Earnings Per Share - Additional Information (Detail) (USD $)
3 Months Ended 15 Months Ended
Jan. 31, 2015
Jan. 31, 2014
Jan. 31, 2015
Class of Stock [Line Items]      
Number of shares authorized to be purchased 4,000,000us-gaap_StockRepurchaseProgramNumberOfSharesAuthorizedToBeRepurchased   4,000,000us-gaap_StockRepurchaseProgramNumberOfSharesAuthorizedToBeRepurchased
Shares repurchased of common stock 3,184,272us-gaap_TreasuryStockNumberOfSharesHeld   3,184,272us-gaap_TreasuryStockNumberOfSharesHeld
Total cost of the shares repurchased     $ 0us-gaap_TreasuryStockValueAcquiredCostMethod
Antidilutive stock option 0us-gaap_AntidilutiveSecuritiesExcludedFromComputationOfEarningsPerShareAmount 0us-gaap_AntidilutiveSecuritiesExcludedFromComputationOfEarningsPerShareAmount  
Class A Common Stock [Member]      
Class of Stock [Line Items]      
Calculation of EPS (i) multiply 40 percent times the average Class A shares outstanding, then divide that amount by the product of 40 percent of the average Class A shares outstanding plus 60 percent of the average Class B shares outstanding to get a percentage, (ii) undistributed net income divided by the average Class A shares outstanding, (iii) multiply item (i) by item (ii), (iv) add item (iii) to the Class A cash dividend per share. Diluted shares are factored into the Class A calculation.    
Percentage of shares outstanding used in two class method calculation 40.00%gef_PercentageOfSharesOutstandingUsedInTwoClassMethodCalculation
/ us-gaap_StatementClassOfStockAxis
= us-gaap_CommonClassAMember
   
Cumulative dividends per share 0.01gef_CumulativeAnnualDividendsPerShareRate
/ us-gaap_StatementClassOfStockAxis
= us-gaap_CommonClassAMember
   
Common stock dividend per share 0.01gef_AdditionalDividendPerShare
/ us-gaap_StatementClassOfStockAxis
= us-gaap_CommonClassAMember
   
Voting rights The Class A Common Stock has no voting rights unless four quarterly cumulative dividends upon the Class A Common Stock are in arrears.    
Repurchase of common stock 0us-gaap_StockRepurchasedDuringPeriodShares
/ us-gaap_StatementClassOfStockAxis
= us-gaap_CommonClassAMember
   
Shares repurchased of common stock 1,425,452us-gaap_TreasuryStockNumberOfSharesHeld
/ us-gaap_StatementClassOfStockAxis
= us-gaap_CommonClassAMember
  1,425,452us-gaap_TreasuryStockNumberOfSharesHeld
/ us-gaap_StatementClassOfStockAxis
= us-gaap_CommonClassAMember
Class B Common Stock [Member]      
Class of Stock [Line Items]      
Calculation of EPS (i) multiply 60 percent times the average Class B shares outstanding, then divide that amount by the product of 40 percent of the average Class A shares outstanding plus 60 percent of the average Class B shares outstanding to get a percentage, (ii) undistributed net income divided by the average Class B shares outstanding, (iii) multiply item (i) by item (ii), (iv) add item (iii) to the Class B cash dividend per share. Class B diluted EPS is identical to Class B basic EPS.    
Percentage of shares outstanding used in two class method calculation 60.00%gef_PercentageOfSharesOutstandingUsedInTwoClassMethodCalculation
/ us-gaap_StatementClassOfStockAxis
= us-gaap_CommonClassBMember
   
Non-Cumulative dividends per share 0.005gef_NonCumulativeAnnualDividendsPerShare
/ us-gaap_StatementClassOfStockAxis
= us-gaap_CommonClassBMember
   
Common stock dividend per share 0.015gef_AdditionalDividendPerShare
/ us-gaap_StatementClassOfStockAxis
= us-gaap_CommonClassBMember
   
Voting rights The Class B Common Stock has full voting rights.    
Repurchase of common stock 0us-gaap_StockRepurchasedDuringPeriodShares
/ us-gaap_StatementClassOfStockAxis
= us-gaap_CommonClassBMember
   
Shares repurchased of common stock 1,758,820us-gaap_TreasuryStockNumberOfSharesHeld
/ us-gaap_StatementClassOfStockAxis
= us-gaap_CommonClassBMember
  1,758,820us-gaap_TreasuryStockNumberOfSharesHeld
/ us-gaap_StatementClassOfStockAxis
= us-gaap_CommonClassBMember