This flyer published in London in 1907 but reproduced from a cartoon originally published in The Manchester Evening Chronicle shows Music Hall managers on the steamship SS Music Hall searching in vain for metaphorical stars to help navigate their way through the choppy waters of the strike that was affecting their business at the height of the popularity of Music Hall. The two-week strike, also known as the Music Hall War, began on 22 January 1907, and although some performers broke the strike to perform, the strike was a mortal blow to the industry without the stars the public adored.

The flyer requests: 'Support the Stars who are supporting their less fortunate Fellow-Artistes'. Marie Lloyd, one of the highest paid Music Hall stars of the day was passionate about this cause, and as the first president of the Music Hall Ladies' Guild, elected in 1906, called for a meeting of the Variety Artistes Association, the National Association of Theatrical Employees and the Amalgamated Musicians’ Union to form an alliance to resist plans for Music Hall performers to perform extra matinees without extra pay. She and other highly-paid stars could dictate their own terms but were fighting the injustice to lower-paid performers on a weekly wage, and succeeded in getting the pay and conditions the performers demanded.