In "Contents of the Dead Man's Pocket," what does Tom value the most at the beginning of the story?"Contents of the Dead Man's Pocket" by Jack Finney

Much like Arthur Miller's The Death of a
Salesman, Jack Finney's short story "Contents of the Dead Man's Pockets" was
written in response to the increasing materialism of Americans in the wake of World War
II.  Thus, the exposition of Finney's story creates the motif of
ambition as a driving force that clouds Tom Benecke's
judgment and values. 

That Tom has already achieved a
certain status is evinced by Tom's

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watching the expanding circlet of mist, staring
down through the autumn night at Lexington Avenue, eleven stories
below.

Lexington Avenue is on
the Upper East Side, Manhattan, a very affluent part of New York.  Skyscrapers were new
to the scene in the 1950s as well, so people who lived in them were social climbers.  In
this passage, too, is foreshadowing of the blindness of Tom to real values since he
looks through the autumn night only to the street below, missing the beauty of the
evening.  Nor does he notice the prettiness of his wife when she speaks to him about
missing the movie, merely replying, "Got to get this done, though." In his
ambition, Tom's grocery store project is
paramount.