Svenson came to the United States from Germany in 1903 and joined his brother John Henning in Omaha in 1905. In 1905, he opened a photography studio in Laramie. In addition to studio photographs he made a number of photos in the 1920's documenting Laramie and its area. The studio is still in business, operated by the fourth generation of the same family. The American Heritage Center at the University of Wyoming maintains over 20,000 negatives of photographs taken by the family. In addition to photography, Svenson was a beekeeper, gardener and raised Belgian hares.

It has been contended that Laramie tolerated the existence of the facilities as a revenue raising measure by collecting fines of $7.00 and $7.50. There were repeated arrests and fines for Sophia Riccard a resident of 3rd Street, but any belief that the City fathers were merely using the situation to raise money is speculation. Just as likely is that there was a difficulty in obtaining convictions or adequate fines under the territorial laws. In 1873, Cheyenne's famous madam, Ida Hamilton, as an example, was prosecuted in the District Court for Laramie County and found guilty of "keeping and maintaining a lewd house, for the practice of fornication." She was sentenced to four months in the Laramie County Jail by the district judge. On appeal, the case was reversed on the basis that Hamilton was entitled to have the sentence determined by the jury. Hamilton continued to operate her house. In 1879, one of the clients attempted to murder one of the inmates, Ida Snow, by choking her. Snow's screams aroused others in the house and her assailant Edward Malone was shot to death by Charles Boulton. The death of Malone was found by the jury to be justifiable homicide. Mrs. Snow recovered from her injuries and as shown by the 1880 census was soon back at work. Snow is, perhaps, an example of the difficulties of widowhood in the 19th Century. Snow, an Irish immigrant, was widowed by age 27 and was, thus, apparently forced, far from home, into a life of degradation and shame, to die "unknelled, uncoffined, and unknown." [Lord Byron, Childe Harold, Canto iv, stanza 179.]

Certainly other cities elsewhere did use the keeping of bawdy houses as an oppotunity to enhance municipal revenues. Thus, notwithstanding that a Texas law made illegal the keeping of bawdy houses, San Antonio, the home of Fannie Porter, hostess to members of the Wild Bunch, actually issued licenses for keeping of such facilities. Ultimately, the Texas courts held that the ordinance providing for licensure was itself illegal. One madam after finding out that the City licensing ordinance was invalid, sued to get back her $500.00 licensing fee.