Color cathode ray tube having an improved shadow mask

A color cathode ray tube comprising a vacuum envelope including a panel, a neck and a funnel for connecting said panel and said neck, an electron gun housed in said neck, a phosphor screen coated on an inner surface of said panel, and a shadow mask closely spaced from said phosphor screen and housed in said panel, wherein

• said shadow mask has a plurality of strips extending in a direction perpendicular to a horizontal scanning direction of electron beams emitted from said electron gun and a plurality of bridge portions connecting adjacent ones among said plurality of strips,
• said shadow mask is formed with a plurality of slot-shaped electron beam apertures therein,
• each of said plurality of slot-shaped electron beams apertures is defined by two adjacent ones among said plurality of strips and two adjacent ones in the direction perpendicular to the horizontal scanning direction among said plurality of bridge portions,
• said shadow mask is provided with at least one wire held under tension in the extending direction of said plurality of strips so as to be superposed on a surface of one of said plurality of strips which faces said electron gun, and
• both ends of said at least one wire are brought out through holes opened onto said shadow mask towards said phosphor screen, respectively.